“GLOWS WITH THE FIRE OF A SUPPRESSED, SECRET, FEVERISH EXCITEMENT”: BEAUTIFUL FIRST EDITION OF HAWTHORNE’S SCARLET LETTER IN ORIGINAL CLOTH

HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter, a Romance. Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1850. Octavo, original blind-tooled brown cloth. Housed in a custom brown morocco clamshell box. $22,000.

First edition of Hawthorne’s American classic, one of only 2500 copies printed. A lovely unrestored copy.

"Since 1837, when he had written [the short story] 'Endicott and the Red Cross,' he had often been tormented by a symbol—a scarlet 'A,' worn by an adultress in that tale—which had, at last, worked its way into a full-length book" (Kunitz & Haycraft, 349). 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 et al., 652). The novel "glows with the fire of a suppressed, secret, feverish excitement… a fire that neither wanes nor lessens, but keeps at its original scorching heat for years" (Allibone I:805). First edition, Clark's typesetting states x¹ and a², no priority established. Without the four pages of publisher's advertisements inserted between the front endpapers, as often. Clark A16.1; BAL 7600. Early owner signature to title page; small early booksellers’ description pasted to front pastedown endpaper.

A splendid, unrestored copy with only minute rubs and some wear to spine ends, gilt beautiful. Most scarce and desirable in such lovely condition.