Books

12mo., 2 parts in 1; 207 and 211 pgs., plus adverts, bound in as end matter: "New and Valuable Books published by Wiley and Putnam, 1846" (4 pgs.) This book is rare in any condition, and this specimen has its publisher's usual interior foxing, spotty and occasional on the page surfaces, more frequent deep in the binding gutters. Sewing is intact, but front cover is splitting at hinge for 2". Head and tail are worn thru. The gilt title remains legible on the spine. Blind-stamped original cloth front and rear panels show modest wear, the front having a light stain along part of its outer perimeter. First edition, 2nd state, with both Smith Stereotype and Craighead's Power Press trade emblems. Book 2 title page verso is blank, a bibliographical point of issue in Fraser Clark's "Descriptive Bibliography" on Hawthorne. The book has one 19th century owner name inked with a fine script hand. A rare volume from the first era of America's literary flowering. Very good antiquarian condition, in the original binding.

A collection of short stories published in 1846, it reflects Hawthorne's dark romanticism and explores human nature and morality.