This volume of short stories and shorter works by Nathaniel Hawthorne was heralded upon its release and is still widely considered a classic.

Hawthorne's early stories were collected in 1837 and published under the title "Twice-Told Tales." They include two of the stories founded on early New England annals, -- "The Gray Champion," based on a tradition of one of the judges of Charles I., and "The Maypole of Merry-Mount," in which Endicott appears as the embodiment of the Puritan spirit. Besides these are the allegories "Fancy's Show Box," "The Great Carbuncle," and " The Prophetic Pictures ; " "The Hollow of the Three Hills," one of the typical stories of witchcraft, foreshadowing some of his later and more powerful work; the curious study, "Wakefield", the popular "Rill from the Town Pump ;" the pretty' fantasy, " David Swan," in which the lighthearted boy goes on his pilgrimage unconscious of the shadows of possibilities that have fallen across his sleeping face; the pathetic story of Quaker suffering, "The Gentle Boy ; " " Dr. Heidegger's Experiment," -' touching a subject which recurs again in " Septimius Felton " and " The Dolliver Romance ;" and the light humor of "Mr. Higginbotham's Catastrophe,-" — thus including almost every class of subject on which he afterward touched, though in all he rose to higher levels in his later work. '

How is this book unique? Font adjustments & biography included Unabridged (100% Original content) Illustrated About Twice Told Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne Twice-Told Tales is a short story collection in two volumes by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The first was published in the spring of 1837, and the second in 1842. Hawthorne was encouraged by friend Horatio Bridge to collect these previously anonymous stories; Bridge offered $250 to cover the risk of the publication. Many had been published in The Token, edited by Samuel Griswold Goodrich. When the works became popular, Bridge revealed Hawthorne as the author in a review he published in the Boston Post. The title, Twice-Told Tales, was based on a line from William Shakespeare's The Life and Death of King John (Act 3, scene 4): "Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale, / Vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man."The quote referenced may also be Hawthorne's way of acknowledging a belief that many of his stories were ironic retellings of familiar tropes. The book was published by the American Stationers' Company on March 6, 1837; its cover price was one dollar. Hawthorne had help in promoting the book from Elizabeth Peabody. She sent copies of the collection to William Wordsworth as well as to Horace Mann, hoping that Mann could get Hawthorne a job writing stories for schoolchildren. After publication, Hawthorne asked a friend to check with the local bookstore to see how it was selling. After noting the initial expenses for publishing had not been met, he complained: "Surely the book was puffed enough to meet with sale. What the devil's the matter?" By June, between 600 and 700 copies were sold but sales were soon halted by the Panic of 1837 and the publisher went out of business within a year.

Twice-Told Tales By Nathaniel Hawthorne Twice-Told Tales is a work by Nathaniel Hawthorne now brought to you in this new edition of the timeless classic.

Large Format for easy reading. From the author of The Scarlet Letter, a collection of his best short stories.

Bonded Leather binding

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