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Concord, MA 01742
Tel: 978-369-2405
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Nathaniel Hawthorne
"Deep as Dante."
-Herman Melville
"N. Hawthorn's [sic] reputation
as a writer is a very pleasing fact
because his writing is not good for
anything, and this is a tribute to the
man."
-Emerson,
quoted in Hawthorne: A Life by
Brenda Wineapple
"It broke her heart and sent
her to bed with a grievous headache,
which I look upon as a triumphant
success."
-Hawthorne, describing his
wife Sophia's reaction to the final
pages of The Scarlet
Letter
Born in Salem, MA, on July 4, 1804, the son of a sea captain and the descendant of a long line of Puritans, Hawthorne grew up sheltered by his overly protective mother and sisters and befriended by books. (Temporary lameness from a leg injury kept him confined to the indoors for several years.) After graduating from Bowdoin College in 1825, he published his first novel anonymously-the unsuccessful Fanshawe-followed by several successful short stories. In 1837, he published Twice-Told Tales under his own name. Fellow Bowdoin classmate Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a favorable review, but the income from his writing was insufficient to keep Hawthorne afloat, so in 1839 he became a salt and coal measurer at the Boston Custom House.
By
1842, Hawthorne's writing finally
began to provide enough of an
income to allow him to marry Sophia
Peabody, with whom he moved into
the "Old Manse" in Concord, MA.
Following the births of his first
children, he moved the family back to
Salem, where, in 1850, he published
The Scarlet Letter. The latter's
success allowed Hawthorne to
devote himself full time to writing,
and in
1851, followed by a move to Lenox,
MA, he published The House of
the Seven Gables. In 1852, the
restless Hawthorne moved back to
Concord where he took up residence
in "The Wayside," Bronson Alcott's
(Louisa Alcott's father's) former
home, but he didn't stay long. A year
later he was appointed U.S. Consul
at Liverpool, a position he would hold
until 1857. Although he continued to
write, few of his later works attained
the success of The Scarlet
Letter and The House of the
Seven Gables. Hawthorne
passed away on May 19, 1864 in
Plymouth, NH, after a long period of
illness in which he suffered severe
bouts of dementia. He is buried in
Sleepy Hollow cemetery in Concord.
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Upcoming events
- Thursday, February 9th at 2 pm - Theodora Goss, "The Thorn and the Blossom"(1 day)
- Sunday, February 12th at 3 pm - Toby Lester, "Da Vinci's Ghost"(4 days)
- Sunday, February 19th at 3 pm - Sarah McCoy, "The Baker's Daughter"(11 days)
- Sunday, February 26th at 3 pm - Margot Livesey, "The Flight of Gemma Hardy"(18 days)
- Sunday, March 11th at 3 pm - Kate Flora, "Redemption"(32 days)
- Sunday, March 18th at 3 pm - Madeline Miller, "The Song of Achilles"(39 days)
- Thursday March 22th at 7 pm - Howard Frank Mosher, "The Great Northern Express"(43 days)
- Sunday, March 25th at 3 pm - Natalie Dykstra, "Clover Adams: A Gilded and Heartbreaking Life"(46 days)
- Sunday, April 1st at 3 pm - Deborah Kops, The "Great Molasses Flood", and Heather Lang, "Queen of the Track"(53 days)
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