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The Scarlet Letter
by Hawthorne, Nathaniel
- Used
- Fine
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- Fine
- Seller
-
Newburyport, Massachusetts, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Heritage Press, 1935 Presumed Reprint. Hard cover, 8vo, in slipcase, red cloth, blind stamped with vignette initial "A "design top board, with additional blind stamp to spine, with titles blocked in gold. The frontispiece has a color illustration by the Chicago-trained graphic artist William Addison Dwiggins, (1880-1956) signed in pencil by the artist. After a stint at the Lakeside Press, Dwiggins continued his career in the Boston area, designing quite a few typefaces, doing commercial work, and book design for firms including the Merrymount Press. Salem, Massachusetts-born novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) penned this fictional classic of Puritan patriarchal morality at odds with the life choices of the young Hester Prynne and her adulterous love-child. She is tormented both by her community, and an elusive husband, who rather than openly reuniting with his estranged wife, becomes obsessed with identifying her lover. Originally published in 1850. [OCLC 260716.] CONDITION: Fine. in a Very Good slipcase. M. Bussacco BHP-FS-3A.. First Series (A) 1935.. Hard Cover. Fine. Illus. by W.A. Dwiggins (signed by artist).
Synopsis
The Scarlet Letter: A Romance (1850) is considered the American author Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'masterwork.' A work of historical fiction set in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the Puritan settlement of 1642-1949 itells the story of Hester Prynne, who after having a child as a result of an extra-marital affair attempts to live a life of repentance and dignity although she is marked by having to wear a Scarlett A on her person. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt. The Scarlett Letter was one of the first mass-produced novels in the United States, prior printing of books generally done by hand. The 2,500 copies first printed sold out in days, and the mass-production of books opened up conversation about books and authors to a wider-audience on a national level. The first edition of The Scarlet Letter sold out in ten days and “made Hawthorne’s fame, changed his fortune and gave to our literature its first symbolic novel a year before the appearance of Melville’s Moby-Dick” (Bradley). Although an instant best-seller, the books sales over fourteen years only brought the author $1500.
Reviews
On Oct 4 2010, Erhanilhan said:
An absolute criticism of Puritan society. Hawthorne portrays the hypocritic sides of the society by pointing its discrepancies and ill-interpreted biblical sides deeds. He also shows that the society was not working in the name of god as stated; instead worked for a group of people (especially powerful) that keep the lines in hand.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Dark and Stormy Night Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 9063
- Title
- The Scarlet Letter
- Author
- Hawthorne, Nathaniel
- Illustrator
- W.A. Dwiggins (signed by artist)
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine
- Edition
- First Series (A) 1935.
- Publisher
- Heritage Press
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1935
Terms of Sale
Dark and Stormy Night Books
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About the Seller
Dark and Stormy Night Books
Biblio member since 2005
Newburyport, Massachusetts
About Dark and Stormy Night Books
Now entering our eighteenth year, Dark and Stormy Night Books is an online bookstore carrying Rare, Antiquarian and other interesting finds. Alasdair and Alexandra Johnson, Proprietors. Alasdair, from Edinburgh, Scotland has a colorful heritage including the salvage of shipwrecks off the English coast, and transportation of an eighteenth-century revolutionary relative to Australia. When not swashbuckling through the world of electronics and other gizmos as a lad, he scared himself silly with science-fiction, ghost stories and gothic novels. His partner, Alexandra, is a third-generation book dealer, whose family had the smallest of small-press workshops in the family barn. She is a graduate in history and art history from Bowdoin College, with a particular interest in the Far East and the China trade, the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, and the British Arts & Crafts Movement. She also spent some years working for a nationally known early-American antiques dealer. They make their home in historic Newburyport, on the Massachusetts coast. Visit our website: www.darkandstormynightbooks.com
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Vignette
- A decorative design or illustration placed at the beginning or end of a ...
- Reprint
- Any printing of a book which follows the original edition. By definition, a reprint is not a first edition.
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
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