Nathaniel Hawthorne
Novelist
Renowned American novelist and short story writer who is best known for The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables. His psychologically and morally complex works exemplify the literary genre of Dark Romanticism.
He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1825 and subsequently secured work as editor of the American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge. His earliest published works include such short stories as "Young Goodman Brown" and "The Minister's Black Veil."
He met Abraham Lincoln in the early years of the American Civil War and mentioned the meeting in an 1862 essay entitled 'Chiefly About War Matters.'
He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, the descendant of a judge (John Hathorne) who had presided over the intheir Salem Witch Trials. Hawthorne married transcendentalist and illustrator, Sophia Peabody, in 1842. The couple welcomed three children--Una, Julian, and Rose-- between 1844 and 1851.
Edgar Allan Poe initially wrote harsh critiques of Hawthorne's work, but later recognized Hawthorne's genius.