Share on Facebook

Nathaniel Hawthorne Biography

Writer

One of the great American authors of the 19th century, Nathaniel Hawthorne grew up in New England and published his first novel, Fanshawe, in 1828. Though he went on to help lay the foundations of the American short story, Hawthorne is more widely known for his novels The Scarlet Letter (1850) and The House of Seven Gables (1851). (Hester Prynne, the heroine of The Scarlet Letter, is forced to wear the letter 'A' for adultery after she has an affair with the Puritan minister Arthur Dimmesdale.) Hawthorne's other books include Twice-Told Tales (1837) and The Marble Faun (1860). From 1853 to 1859 Hawthorne lived in England and in Italy, but returned to the United States and died in 1864.

Extra credit: Hawthorne was good friends with Herman Melville, author of Moby-Dick... Hawthorne also knew President Franklin Pierce and wrote a biography of Pierce for his campaign in 1852.