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In: Biographies·American Literature
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #7170.
The work is a scholarly biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne, written by Frank Preston Stearns. It begins by noting that the “simple events” of Hawthorne’s life have long been public, relying on his own notebooks from 1835 onward and the recollections of his friends Horatio Bridge and Elizabeth Peabody. Stearns explains that earlier attempts to systematize those sources, George P. Lathrop’s 1872 edition and Julian Hawthorne’s 1884 volume, either lacked completeness or avoided critical judgment of the author’s genius. The present volume therefore seeks to fill that gap, crediting previous biographers while correcting errors such as the supposed Quaker‑persecution link of William Hathorne and the alleged duel involvement of Hawthorne. The opening chapter launches into a vivid portrait of Salem, the city that shaped Hawthorne’s ancestry, architecture, and early social milieu, setting the stage for a detailed, chapter‑by‑chapter exploration of his life from 1630 to his death.
Stearns writes in a measured, nineteenth‑century academic voice, blending narrative description with meticulous footnotes and genealogical detail. The prose reflects the era’s reverence for primary documents and a desire to situate literary figures within their broader historical context. Readers who appreciate careful archival research, the interplay of biography and cultural history, or the ambience of early‑American New England will find this book rewarding. It is especially suited to scholars of American literature, students of Hawthorne’s work, and anyone interested in the social fabric that produced one of the nation’s most distinctive novelists.
The opening · free to read
The simple events of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s life have long been before the public. From 1835 onward they may easily be traced in the various Note-books, which have been edited from his diary, and previous to that time we are indebted for them chiefly to the recollections of his two faithful friends, Horatio Bridge and Elizabeth Peabody. These were first systematised and published by George P. Lathrop in 1872, but a more complete and authoritative biography was issued by Julian Hawthorne twelve years later, in which, however, the writer has modestly refrained from expressing an opinion as to the quality of his father’s genius, or from attempting any critical examination of his father’s literary work. It is in order to supply in some measure this deficiency, that the present volume has been written. At the same time, I trust to have given credit where it was due to my predecessors, in the good work of making known the true character of so rare a genius and so exceptional a personality.
The publication of Horatio Bridge’s memoirs and of Elizabeth Manning’s account of the boyhood of Hawthorne have placed before the world much that is new and valuable concerning the earlier portion of Hawthorne’s life, of which previous biographers could not very well reap the advantage. I have made thorough researches in regard to Hawthorne’s American ancestry, but have been able to find no ground for the statements of Conway and Lathrop, that William Hathorne, their first ancestor on this side of the ocean, was directly connected with the Quaker persecution. Some other mistakes, like Hawthorne’s supposed connection with the duel between Cilley and Graves, have also been corrected.
F. P. S.
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