Product Description

This Norton Critical Edition of Nathaniel Hawthorne's most widely read novel appears during the bicentennial anniversary year of his birth. The text of The Scarlet Letter is based on the 1850 third edition, the first set in stereotype plates and the basis of subsequent printings in Hawthorne's lifetime.

An invaluable selection of contextual material includes five Hawthorne stories that are closely related to The Scarlet Letter, along with relevant letters and notebook entries. A substantial excerpt from Hawthorne's campaign biography of Franklin Pierce offers a revealing glimpse at Hawthorne's political thought, especially regarding slavery and abolition.

"Criticism" provides a comprehensive overview of early and modern commentary on The Scarlet Letter and the stories in this edition, including nineteenth-century reviews of the novel and critical essays by Robert S. Levine, Nina Baym, Larry J. Reynolds, and Jean Fagan Yellin.

A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.

About the Series: No other series of classic texts equals the caliber of the Norton Critical Editions. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehensive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing, first-rate translation, and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paper and every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2,000 universities worldwide.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5809 in Books
• Published on: 2004-12-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 768 pages

About the Author
Leland S. Person is Professor of English at the University of Cincinnati. His is the author of Henry James and the Suspense of Masculinity, Roman Holidays: American Writers and Artists in Nineteenth-Century Italy, and Aesthetic Headaches: Women and Masculine Poetics in Poe, Melville, and Hawthorne.

Customer Reviews

Scarlet Letter
This eddition of the book is not about the excellence of the story- but, rather a consise review of Hawthorne's writing of several of his works. It is excellent for the student of the author