Hawthorne and His Publisher

The annals of literature contains the record of various memorable friendships which have existed between authors and publishers. The names of Scott and Constable, Tom Moore and Longman, Browning and George Murray Smith, are permanently linked together. Yet it is doubtful if among all such notable friendships, any can rival that of Hawthorne and Ticknor.The value of the fragmentary story of this association, as set forth in the following pages, must of necessity lie in those passages in which the subjects speak for themselves. Especially does Hawthorne in his frank and spontaneous communications, penned from the consulate at Liverpool, reveals himself with a freedom from all restraint, not to be found elsewhere in his letters and journals.