The Scarlet Letter (Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics Series)

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Overview

In seventeenth-century Boston, Hester Prynne shoulders the scorn of her fellow Puritan townsfolk for bearing a child out of wedlock. For her refusal to name the father of her daughter Pearl, Hester is made to wear a scarlet "A" stitched conspicuously upon her dress. But though she bears the stigma of the shame her peers would confer upon her, others feel the guilt for her transgression more acutely--notably the pious Reverend Arthur ...
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The Scarlet Letter (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

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Overview

In seventeenth-century Boston, Hester Prynne shoulders the scorn of her fellow Puritan townsfolk for bearing a child out of wedlock. For her refusal to name the father of her daughter Pearl, Hester is made to wear a scarlet "A" stitched conspicuously upon her dress. But though she bears the stigma of the shame her peers would confer upon her, others feel the guilt for her transgression more acutely--notably the pious Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, the confessor with whom Hester and Pearl's destinies are intimately bound up.
 
First published in 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne's historical study of guilt and sin has since been lauded as the most important work of fiction by its distinguished author, and a landmark of American literature. This exquisite collectible edition features an elegant bonded-leather binding, a satin-ribbon bookmark, distinctive stained edging, and decorative marbled endpapers. It's the perfect gift for book-lovers and an artful addition to any home library.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781435131811
  • Publisher: Sterling
  • Publication date: 10/15/2011
  • Series: Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics Series
  • Format: Leather Bound
  • Pages: 240
  • Sales rank: 12287
  • Product dimensions: 8.60 (w) x 5.68 (h) x 1.18 (d)

Meet the Author

Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
"Words -- so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them," Nathaniel Hawthorne once reflected. Hawthorne's own words indeed had an undeniable power. Author of The Scarlet Letter and originator of the American short story, Hawthorne left an indelible impression on literature that would influence his fellow writers into the next century.

Biography

Nathaniel Hathorne, Jr., was born into an established New England puritan family on Independence Day, 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts. After the sudden death of his father, he and his mother and sisters moved in with his mother's family in Salem. Nathaniel's early education was informal; he was home-schooled by tutors until he enrolled in Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.

Uninterested in conventional professions such as law, medicine, or the ministry, Nathaniel chose instead to rely "for support upon my pen." After graduation, he returned to his hometown, wrote short stories and sketches, and chanced the spelling of his surname to "Hawthorne." Hawthorne's coterie consisted of transcendentalist thinkers, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Although he did not subscribe entirely to the group's philosophy, he lived for six months at Brook Farm, a cooperative living community the transcendentalists established in West Roxbury, Massachusetts.

On July 9, 1942, Hawthorne married a follower of Emerson, Sophia Peabody, with whom he had a daughter, Una, and a son, Julian. The couple purchased a mansion in Concord, Massachusetts, that previously had been occupied by author Louisa May Alcott. Frequently in financial difficulty, Hawthorne worked at the custom houses in Salem and Boston to support his family and his writing. His peaceful life was interrupted when his college friend, Franklin Pierce, now president of the United States, appointed him U.S. consul at Liverpool, England, where he served for four years.

The publication of The Scarlet Letter in 1850 changed the way society viewed Puritanism. Considered his masterpiece, the novel focuses on Hawthorne's recurrent themes of sin, guilt, and punishment. Some critics have attributed his sense of guilt to his ancestors' connection with the persecution of Quakers in seventeenth-century New England and their prominent role in the Salem witchcraft trials in the 1690s.

On May 19, 1864, Hawthorne died in Plymouth, New Hampshire, leaving behind several unfinished novels that were published posthumously. He is buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts.

Author biography from the Barnes & Noble Classics edition of The Scarlet Letter.

Good To Know

Hawthorne's birth name was actually Nathaniel Hathorne. It's rumored that he added a "w" to avoid being associated with his Puritan grandfather, Judge Hathorne -- who presided over the Salem Witch Trials.

Among Hawthorne's peers at Maine's Bowdoin College: author Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Franklin Pierce, who would later become the country's 14th president.

In its first week of publication, The Scarlet Letter sold 4,000 copies.

Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, at the Pemigewasset House in Plymouth, New Hampshire. Ironically, former president Franklin Pierce had advised him to go there for his health.

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    1. Date of Birth:
      Wed Jul 04 00:00:00 EST 1804
    2. Place of Birth:
      Salem, Massachusetts
    1. Date of Death:
      Thu May 19 00:00:00 EST 1864
    2. Place of Death:
      Plymouth, New Hampshire
    1. Education:
      Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, 1824

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5
( 7 )
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  • Anonymous

    Posted Mon Jan 07 00:00:00 EST 2013

    Beautiful edition of this book!

    Beautiful edition of this book!

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted Mon Jul 16 00:00:00 EDT 2012

    This book may have been printed on endangered and illegally logg

    This book may have been printed on endangered and illegally logged tree fiber from the Indonesian rainforest. This forest is home to the last 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild, and their habitat is quickly disappearing because of the logging practices of companies like Asia Pulp and Paper. Barnes and Noble publications needs to cut deforestation out of their supply chain by stopping all trade with APP and other forest destroyers!

    2 out of 21 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Feb 21 00:00:00 EST 2012

    an extraordinary classic-I highly reccomend it

    this is an amazing book! it presents hester pyrnne-a young woman struggling with her puriten socioty and it's views of her adulterous actions. Also, it is a story of the revenge of her husband upon the preacher who struggles with the guilt of his actions. all in all, this is a beautifully written classic and I would recommend it to anyone!

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Mon Mar 25 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    Good.

    Good.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Fri Mar 29 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Aug 07 00:00:00 EDT 2012

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Dec 11 00:00:00 EST 2012

    No text was provided for this review.

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