born July 4, 1804, Salem, Mass., U.S.
died May 19, 1864, Plymouth, N.H.
U.S. novelist and short-story writer.
Descended from Puritans, he was imbued with a deep moral earnestness. After producing several unexceptional works, he wrote some of his greatest tales, including "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" (1832), "Roger Malvin's Burial" (1832), and "Young Goodman Brown" (1835). His story collections include Twice-Told Tales (1837), Mosses from an Old Manse (1846), and The Snow-Image (1851). He is best known for the novels The Scarlet Letter (1850), a story of adultery set in colonial New England considered to be one of the best American novels, and The House of the Seven Gables (1851), the story of a family that lives under a curse for generations. His later works include The Blithedale Romance (1852) and The Marble Faun (1860). A skilled literary craftsman and a master of allegory and symbolism, he ranks among the greatest American fiction writers.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, photograph by Mathew Brady.
The Granger Collection, New York City