Nathaniel Hawthorne

Following Battle of Pequawket (Hawthorne uses the name Lovell's Fight) in 1725, two survivors of the battle struggle to return home. Roger Malvin and Reuben Bourne are both wounded and weak, and they have little hope that they will survive. They rest near a rock that resembles an enormous tombstone. Malvin, a much older man, asks Reuben to leave him to die alone, since his wounds are mortal. Reuben insists that he will stay with Malvin as long as he remains alive, but the old man knows that this would mean death for both of them. Malvin convinces Reuben to leave. Reuben survives. Because he has not honored his promise to bury the old man, he is not at peace. His unease is exacerbated by his failure to tell his fiancee, Dorcas (Malvin's daughter) that he left her father to die. Reuben is considered a brave man by his compatriots, but inside he feels that he has failed them.

"The Celestial Railroad" is short story written as an allegory by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. In it, Hawthorne parodies the seventeenth-century book The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, which portrays a Christian's spiritual "journey" through life. In this story, the pilgrim journeys by iron horse rather than by foot, the burden of sin that Bunyan portrays is pulled by the same train...

The young sculptor George Herkimer and his cousin Rosina Elliston pay a visit to Roderick Elliston, Rosina's husband. The couple has been separated for four years. Roderick used to be a brilliant man, now he is a wretched thing, moving and hissing like snake whom he believes to have in his breast. First Roderick's marriage deteriorated, then his social connections, finally he has estranged himself from all companionship. After learning from his servant that he is being talked about, Roderick's behaviour swung to the other extreme. He craved for notoriety and presented his snake (the symbol of his monstrous egotism) to the faces of passers-by. He also sought brotherhood with similarly affected people, finding his own disease in every breast. He created his own system of describing people's snakes in which each vice had a snake of its own. Because of his hanging around and showing the ugliest truth of people, Roderick was removed to a mental asylum. There he was communicating with his serpent, loving and loathing him at the same time. He sat the whole day in front of a mirror with his mouth open, waiting to catch a glimpse of the snake and to kill him. He was reported to have succeed and was released home.. The moral of the story is that although the Egotism is the greatest enemy that ever has occupied a man's heart, the heart can be still purified. Then the serpent is just a dark fantasy and should be thought of as a mere anecdote in our Eternity.

Drowne, a woodcarver who has established a reputation for producing adequate but not inspired figures, accepts a commission from Captain Hunnewell to carve a specific figurehead for Hunnewell's ship the Cynosure. As he works upon the carving, Drowne becomes more engaged with his artistry and more aware of the potential to convey the energy and dynamism of the human form in sculpture. Like Pygmalion, whose myth inspires this tale, Drowne falls in love with his creation and wishes it were real. Hawthorne reveals that a living version of this figure does exist when she appears in the company of Captain Hunnewell. The carved figure of the mysterious lady is Drowne's one great success; afterward he returns to being "the mechanical carver in wood, without the power even of appreciating the work that his own hands had wrought.

In June 1642, in the Puritan town of Boston, a crowd gathers to witness the punishment of Hester Prynne, a young woman found guilty of adultery. She is required to wear a scarlet "A" ("A" standing for adulteress) on her dress to shame her. She must stand on the scaffold for three hours, to be exposed to public humiliation. As Hester approaches the scaffold, many of the women in the crowd are angered by her beauty and quiet dignity. When demanded and cajoled to name the father of her child, Hester refuses. As Hester looks out over the crowd, she notices a small, misshapen man and recognizes him as her long-lost husband, who has been presumed lost at sea. When the husband sees Hester's shame, he asks a man in the crowd about her and is told the story of his wife's adultery. He angrily exclaims that the child's father, the partner in the adulterous act, should also be punished and vows to find the man. He chooses a new name

In June 1642, in the Puritan town of Boston, a crowd gathers to witness the punishment of Hester Prynne, a young woman found guilty of adultery. She is required to wear a scarlet "A" ("A" standing for adulteress) on her dress to shame her. She must stand on the scaffold for three hours, to be exposed to public humiliation. As Hester approaches the scaffold, many of the women in the crowd are angered by her beauty and quiet dignity. When demanded and cajoled to name the father of her child, Hester refuses. As Hester looks out over the crowd, she notices a small, misshapen man and recognizes him as her long-lost husband, who has been presumed lost at sea. When the husband sees Hester's shame, he asks a man in the crowd about her and is told the story of his wife's adultery. He angrily exclaims that the child's father, the partner in the adulterous act, should also be punished and vows to find the man. He chooses a new name

1652... Found guilty of adultery, Hester Prynne is punished by being forced to publicly wear the scarlet letter

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Passages from the French and Italian Note-Books of Nathaniel Hawthorne - Vol. 2 is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1871. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.

A smash hit in its day, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is the gripping tale of three New England settlers at odds with the seventeenth-century Puritan society in which they live, and remains one of literature's most evocative portraits of a love triangle. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, pocket-sized classics bound in real cloth with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. Featuring an afterword by broadcaster Jonty Claypole. Roger Chillingworth arrives in New England after two years' separation from his wife, Hester Prynne, to find her on trial for adultery. She refuses to reveal her lover and is sentenced to wear a scarlet letter 'A' sewn onto her clothes. Resolving to discover the man's identity, Roger sets out to destroy his rival, while Hester desperately tries to protect her illegitimate daughter from a society determined to condemn them both.

Twice-Told Tales is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1886. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.