Facts about Nathaniel Hawthorne

1. 06

   Hawthorne's novel The House of the Seven Gables, published in 1851, drew inspiration from his ancestral guilt over the Salem witch trials.

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2. 05

   A position as surveyor of the Salem Custom House gave Nathaniel Hawthorne steady income from 1846 until he was dismissed in 1849.

   Nathaniel HawthorneMay 17shareliteraturecareeramerican
3. 04

   Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville formed a close friendship in 1850, and Melville dedicated his novel Moby-Dick to Hawthorne.

   Nathaniel HawthorneMay 17shareliteraturefriendshipamerican
4. 03

   Born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804, Nathaniel Hawthorne was a descendant of John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem witch trials.

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5. 02

   The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850, sold approximately 2,500 copies in its first year, establishing Nathaniel Hawthorne as a major American literary figure.

   Nathaniel HawthorneMay 14shareliterature19th-centurypublishing
6. 01

   In 1841, Nathaniel Hawthorne invested $1,800 to join the Brook Farm utopian community in Massachusetts for seven months.

   Nathaniel HawthorneMay 14sharehistoryutopian19th-century