Nathaniel Hawthorne : The Complete Works in 13 volumes

Nathaniel Hawthorne is an author who continues to present contradictions to the reader and scholar. He was a meticulous observer and recorder of everyday life, yet his fiction tends deliberately towards the fantastical and grotesque. He always identified himself strongly with the early history of New England, yet spent several years in Britain and Europe, and remained fascinated by modern social and technological innovation. Contemporaries praised his sentiment and moral purity, but it is his psychological penetration, verging at times on surreal allegory, which has attracted modern appreciation. Not least surprisingly, The Scarlet Letter has become a staple of the novelistic canon, while much of the rest of Hawthorne’s oeuvre goes almost unnoticed–a situation which is surely ripe for correction.This edition contains all the works (fiction and essays and sketches) published by Hawthorne which it has proved possible to reproduce. It also includes the unfinished novels, and the selections from Hawthorne’s diaries and letters published by his widow after his death. All of the works have been newly typeset for this edition. Prof. Nick Lawrence (University of Warwick) has written a new critical introduction to Hawthorne’s oeuvre, including a chronology of the author’s life, contexts for reading his work, an overview of contemporary and subsequent reception, and a brief bibliography.This edition contains all the works (fiction and essays and sketches) published by Hawthorne which it has proved possible to trace. It also includes the unfinished novels, and the selections from Hawthorne's diaries and letters published by his widow after his death.The contents of the volumes are:Volume 1 ( pp.): Introduction to the works by Prof. Nick Lawrence; Twice-Told TalesVolume 2 (314 pp.): Mosses from an Old ManseVolume 3 (356 pp.): The House of the Seven Gables; The Snow Image and other Twice-Told TalesVolume 4 (373 pp.): A Wonder-book; Tanglewood Tales; Grandfather's ChairVolume 5 (