Indisputably one of the most influential American writers of the nineteenth century, Nathaniel Hathorne was born on July 4, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. Haunted by the part played in the Salem witchcraft trials by one of his forefathers, John Hathorne, Nathaniel Hathorne changed his name to Nathaniel Hawthorne when he began publishing. In 1825, Hawthorne graduated from Bowdoin College, where he had met such people as Henry Longfellow and future president Franklin Pierce. Following college, Hawthorne settled in Salem and continued writing in seclusion for some twelve "dark years." However, his work received little recognition, and he, himself, attempted to destroy the copies of his first novel, Fanshawe. During this period of time, he also contributed various pieces of literature to periodicals. A number of these works were published in the collection Twice-Told Tales, which established Hawthorne as a prominent writer. In 1842, he married Sophia Peabody, and the couple moved to...