Writings

1900. Signed. HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel. The Writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, 1900-05. Twenty-four volumes. Octavo, contemporary three-quarter blue morocco, elaborately gilt-decorated spines, raised bands, marbled boards and endpapers, top edges gilt, uncut and partially unopened. $4500.""Autograph Edition"" of Nathaniel Hawthorne's works, number 452 of only 500 sets signed by his daughter Rose Hawthorne Lathrop, illustrated with 135 plates, including an engraved frontispiece in each volume signed by the artist. Contributing artists' signatures include Howard Pyle and Jesse Willcox Smith. An impressive, beautifully bound set.Includes not only The Scarlet Letter—arguably the author's most celebrated work, which ""changed his fortune and gave to our literature its first symbolic novel"" (Bradley et al., 652)—but also The House of the Seven Gables, The Blithedale Romance and The Marble Faun, as well as his short stories (among them such memorable masterpieces as ""Rappaccini's Daughter,"" ""Young Goodman Brown"" and ""The Minister's Black Veil""), travel writings, and biographical sketches. ""Hawthorne has long been recognized as a classic interpreter of the spiritual history of New England… [and] he was a leader in the development of the short story as a distinctive American genre"" (Hart, 320-21). Includes George Woodberry's 1902 biography, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Nina Browne's 1905 A Bibliography of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Signed in the first volume by Hawthorne's daughter Rose Hawthorne Lathrop and the publishers. Each volume with four engraved plates (Volume VII with seven), engraved vignette half title and engraved frontispiece signed in pencil by the artist. Signatories include Jessie Willcox Smith (Volume IV) and Howard Pyle (Volume XIII). BAL 7645. A beautiful illustrated set in fine condition.