Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4, 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts, and died on May 19, 1864. He is best known as a novelist and short story writer whose work probes history, morality, and the darker currents of human nature. A graduate of Bowdoin College, he published his first novel, *Fanshawe*, in 1828 but later tried to suppress it. His early short stories appeared in periodicals before being collected as *Twice-Told Tales* in 1837. After working at the Boston Custom House and a brief stay at the transcendentalist Brook Farm community, he married Sophia Peabody in 1842. The couple lived in Concord, Salem, and the Berkshires before settling at The Wayside in Concord. His most famous novel, *The Scarlet Letter*, was published in 1850, followed by other major works. He also wrote a campaign biography for his college friend Franklin Pierce, who became the 14th U.S. president. Hawthorne’s fiction belongs to the Romantic movement, specifically dark romanticism, marked by moral metaphors, anti-Puritan themes, and deep psychological complexity. His stories often center on New England and explore humanity’s inherent sin and evil. In later years, he served as a consul in Europe before returning to Concord. His work has been adapted into comics, including *Classics Illustrated* and *Classics Illustrated Junior*, with 25 credited issues spanning from 1948 to 2011.