Primary Document 2 A letter from Hawthorne
Page one of a copy made by George B. Curwen of a letter from Hawthorne to Horace Ingersoll.
Written in Lenox in the summer of 1850 about his firing as surveyor at the Salem Custom House the year before.
(1830-1865) along with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Edgar Allen Poe
The Custom House
Satirical introduction to the novel Autobiographical of Hawthorne Used to show his dislike for the Puritans and
By 1842, he was able to earn enough to marry Sophia Peabody and move to Concord, which was then the center of the Transcendental movement.
Hawthorne returned to Salem in 1845 and in 1850, his most famous novel, The Scarlet Letter was published.
Nathaniel Hawthorne died at Plymouth, New Hampshire, on May 18th, 1864.
Picture found on Google Images
Personal Notables
He discovered that he had Puritan ancestors. One relative had served as a judge in the Salem witch
The Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Advanced American Lit Mr. Mays
The Author
Nathaniel Hawthorne American novelist and short story writer, most famous for his novel The Scarlet Letter
The story is based on a historical manuscript that he found. The narrator of the story is nameless, but shares many qualities with Hawthorne himself. He creates the narrator similar to Hester since they both feel alienated from those around them. Narrator says one day he will be remembered by his name on the custom stamp, while Hester will be remembered for her scarlet cloth.
First Publishing
Hawthorne was a Romantic Author
Defining Scarlet
Function: adjective 1 of the color scarlet 2 a : grossly and glaringly offensivnd
Primary Document 1 Custom House Receipt
Salem Custom House Receipt, April 18, 1848
Signed by Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Nathaniel Hawthorne, Background
Born Salem, Mass. on July 4th, 1804, son of a sea captain.
Graduated from Bowdoin College and began to write.
Insufficient earnings as a writer forced Hawthorne to take a job in the Salem Custom House.
trials of 1692 Hawthorne added the “w” to his name to distinguish
himself from his ancestors. He wrote during the Romantic period of literary history
courtesy of The House of the Seven Gables Historic Site
Primary Document 3 Original Book Cover
(courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum)
Title page of 1850 edition of The Scarlet Letter
their strong religious beliefs He is bored at his job which leads him to
search through old boxes and discover the manuscript and the scarlet letter.
The Custom House- Cont.