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LOVE LETTERS
OF
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
LOVE LETTERS
OF
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
PRIVATELY PRINTED
THE SOCIETY OF THE DOFOBS
CHICAGO
1907
Copyright, 1907, by
WILLIAM K. BIXBY
INTRODUCTORY
In "Hawthorne and His Wife" and "Memoriesof Hawthorne" both Julian Hawthorneand his sister, Rose Hawthorne Lathrop,have given citations from the letters written byNathaniel Hawthorne to Miss Sophia Peabodyduring their years of courtship. These excerptswere free and irregular, often, and evidently withspecific intent, taken out of order and run togetheras if for the purpose of illustrating a point or emphasizinga particular phase of character. Whilethe extracts were sufficiently numerous for theobject desired, and while they gave an agreeableglimpse of an interesting period of Hawthorne'slife, they were necessarily too fragmentary, toolacking in continuity, to convey any adequate ideaof the simplicity, beauty, humor and tendernessof the letters, even considered in the matter of aliterary style.viii
The original letters were acquired by Mr. WilliamK. Bixby of St. Louis, and, at the urgentrequest of the Society of the Dofobs, of which heis a highly esteemed and honored member, turnedover to the society with the understanding thatthey should be published for presentation to membersonly. It was specified also that great careshould be exercised in going over the letters, thatno apparent confidences should be violated andthat all private and personal references, whichmight wound the feelings of the living or seem tospeak ill of the dead, should be eliminated. It isindeed remarkable that in the large number ofletters presented there was practically nothingwhich called for elision, nothing in the lightermood which breathed a spirit beyond the innocentlimits of good-natured banter. The work of theeditors was consequently easy and grateful, andthe task one of delight.
It is not claimed that these love letters, so-called,comprise the entire correspondence onHawthorne's part between Miss Peabody andhimself during the three-and-one-half years ofixcourtship. Naturally a series of letters begunsixty-eight years ago, with all the vicissitudes ofa shifting life, would not be preserved intact.But while some letters have been lost or destroyed,and others may not have been permitted for onereason or another to leave the possession of thefamily, the continuity here preserved is practicallyas complete as could be desired and fullyillus