Nathaniel hawthorne biography encyclopedia

American author (1804–1864)

Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer.

His works often focus on history, morality, and religion.

He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that town.

Nathaniel hawthorne biography encyclopedia

Hawthorne entered Bowdoin College in 1821, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1824,^[1] and graduated in 1825. He published his first work in 1828, the novel Fanshawe; he later tried to suppress it, feeling that it was not equal to the standard of his later work.^[2] He published several short stories in periodicals, which he collected in 1837 as Twice-Told Tales.

The following year, he became engaged to Sophia Peabody. He worked at the Boston Custom House and joined Brook Farm, a transcendentalist community, before marrying Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, later moving to Salem, the Berkshires