The Portable HawthorneThe Portable Hawthorne

The Portable Hawthorne includes writings from each major stage in the career of Nathaniel Hawthorne- a number of his most intriguing early tales, all of The Scarlet Letter, excerpts from his three subsequently published romances- The House of Seven Gables , The Blithedale Romance , and The Marble Faun -as well as passages from his European journals and a sampling of his last, unfinished works. The editor's introduction and head notes trace the evolution of Hawthorne's writing over the course of his long career- from the tales, to their apotheosis in The Scarlet Letter , through his popular romances, to his private journals and frustrated attempts at another romance. Readers looking for a critical vantage point from which to see Hawthorne whole-his artistic rise, triumph, and sad decline-can find it in this collection.