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The Scarlet Letter Paperback - 1994
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
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The familiar characters of Hawthorne's dark tale of pride and guilt in colonial New England are given new and added immediacy in the 24 wood engravings by master illustrator Barry Moser.
About this book
The Scarlet Letter: A Romance (1850) is considered the American author Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'masterwork.' A work of historical fiction set in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the Puritan settlement of 1642-1949 itells the story of Hester Prynne, who after having a child as a result of an extra-marital affair attempts to live a life of repentance and dignity although she is marked by having to wear a Scarlett A on her person. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt.
The Scarlett Letter was one of the first mass-produced novels in the United States, prior printing of books generally done by hand. The 2,500 copies first printed sold out in days, and the mass-production of books opened up conversation about books and authors to a wider-audience on a national level. The first edition of The Scarlet Letter sold out in ten days and "made Hawthorne´s fame, changed his fortune and gave to our literature its first symbolic novel a year before the appearance of Melville´s Moby-Dick" (Bradley). Although an instant best-seller, the books sales over fourteen years only brought the author $1500.
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From the publisher
From the rear cover
First published in 1850, The Scarlet Letter is Nathaniel Hawthorne's masterpiece and one of the greatest American novels. Its themes of sin, guilt, and redemption, woven through a story of adultery in the early days of the Massachusetts Colony, are revealed with remarkable psychological penetration and understanding of the human heart.
Hester Prynne is the adulteress, forced by the Puritan community to wear a scarlet letter A on the breast of her gown. Arthur Dimmesdale, the minister and the secret father of her child, Pearl, struggles with the agony of conscience and his own weakness. Roger Chillingworth, Hester's husband, revenges himself on Dimmesdale by calculating assaults on the frail mental state of the conscience-stricken cleric. The result is an American tragedy of stark power and emotional depth that has mesmerized critics and readers for nearly a century and a half.
Hester Prynne is the adulteress, forced by the Puritan community to wear a scarlet letter A on the breast of her gown. Arthur Dimmesdale, the minister and the secret father of her child, Pearl, struggles with the agony of conscience and his own weakness. Roger Chillingworth, Hester's husband, revenges himself on Dimmesdale by calculating assaults on the frail mental state of the conscience-stricken cleric. The result is an American tragedy of stark power and emotional depth that has mesmerized critics and readers for nearly a century and a half.
First edition identification
First edition published by Ticknor, Reeds and Fields, in Boston 1850. Main first edition marker is "reduplicate" instead of "repudiate" on page 21 Four page publisher's adverts at front dated March 1, 1850 and preceding the free end paper. The brown T-cloth favored by Ticknor & Fields is famous for becoming brittle with age, and cracking or fraying at the spine tips. First editions can run upwards of $20,000.
The second edition adds a preface and has a Metcalf imprint on verso of title-page. The third printing has the same preface but has a Hobart & Robbins imprint on verso of title-page.
Details
- Title The Scarlet Letter
- Author Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Binding Paperback
- Edition [ Edition: Repri
- Pages 192
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Dover Publications, New York
- Publication date 1994-05-02
- Features Table of Contents
- ISBN 9780486280486 / 0486280489
- Weight 0.34 lbs (0.15 kg)
- Dimensions 8.36 x 5.26 x 0.49 in (21.23 x 13.36 x 1.24 cm)
- Age range 11 to UP years
- Grade levels 6 - UP
- Reading level 410
-
Themes
- Chronological Period: 19th Century
- Cultural Region: New England
- Cultural Region: Northeast U.S.
- Geographic Orientation: Massachusetts
- Category Young Adult Fiction
- Library of Congress subjects Historical fiction, Psychological fiction
- Library of Congress Catalogue Number 94005440
- Dewey Decimal Code FIC
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