Twice-Told Tales

Twice-Told Tales

Cover of the first edition
Author	Nathaniel Hawthorne
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Short stories
Publisher	American Stationers Co.
Publication date	1837
Media type	Print (Hardback)
Pages	334 pp
ISBN	NA

Twice-Told Tales is a short story collection in two volumes by Nathaniel Hawthorne first published in the spring of 1837. The stories had all been previously published in magazines and annuals, hence the name.

Publication

Hawthorne was encouraged to collect these previously anonymous stories by friend Horatio Bridge. Bridge even offered $250 to cover the risk of the publication ^[1].

After its publication, Hawthorne sent a copy to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a schoolmate at Bowdoin College who had given a speech at Commencement calling for notable contributions to American literature. By this time, Longfellow was working at Harvard University. "We were not, it is true, so well acquainted at college, that I can plead an absolute right to inflict my 'twice-told' tediousness upon you; but I have often regretted that we were not better known," Hawthorne wrote in an accompanying letter. Longfellow was impressed and praised the collection in the North American Review. The two authors would eventually build a strong friendship ^[2].

Edgar Allan Poe wrote a well-known two-part review of Twice-Told Tales, published in the April and May 1842 issues of the Broadway Journal. Poe criticized Hawthorne's reliance on allegory and the didactic, something he called a "heresy" to American literature. He did, however, express praise at the use of short stories (Poe was a tale-writer himself) and said they "rivet the attention" of the reader.^[3] Poe admitted, "The style of Hawthorne is purity itself. His tone is singularly effective--wild, plaintive, thoughtful, and in full accordance with his themes." He concluded that, "we look upon him as one of the few men of indisputable genius to whom our country has as yet given birth."^[4]

Contents

• The Gray Champion
• Sunday at Home
• The Wedding-Knell
• The Minister's Black Veil
• The May-Pole of Merry Mount
• The Gentle Boy
• Mr. Higginbotham's Catastrophe
• Little Annie's Ramble
• Wakefield
• A Rill from the Town-Pump
• The Great Carbuncle
• The Prophetic Pictures
• David Swan
• Sights from a Steeple
• The Hollow of the Three Hills
• The Toll-Gatherer's Day
• The Vision of the Fountain
• Fancy's Show Box
• Dr. Heidegger's Experiment
• Legends of the Province-House

I. Howe's Masquerade

II. Edward Randolph's Portrait

III. Lady Eleanore's Mantle

IV. Old Esther Dudley

• The Haunted Mind
• The Village Uncle
• The Ambitious Guest
• The Sister Years
• Snow-Flakes
• The Seven Vagabonds
• The White Old Maid
• Peter Goldthwaite's Treasure
• Chippings with a Chisel
• The Shaker Bridal
• Night Sketches
• Endicott and the Red Cross
• The Lily's Quest
• Foot-prints on the Sea-shore
• Edward Fane's Rosebud
• The Threefold Destiny

Motion Picture Adapations

In 1962, United Artists released a horror trilogy film adaptation of several of Hawthorne's stories, with the film titled Twice-Told Tales. Three stories were filmed: "The House of the Seven Gables," "Heidegger's Experiment," and "Rappaccini's Daughter." While done on a relatively low-budget by Hollywood standards, the film is nonetheless regarded as a classic of sorts, with Vincent Price, Sebastian Cabot, and Beverly Garland delivering good performances.

Footnotes

1. ^ McFarland, Philip (10 July 2005). Hawthorne in Concord, Paperback ed., Grove Press, p. 22. ISBN 978-0802142054. 
2. ^ (2005) Hawthorne in Concord, p. 19. ISBN 978-0802142054. 
3. ^ Sova, Dawn B. (2001). Edgar Allan Poe: A to Z. Checkmark Books, p. 233. ISBN 978-0816041619. 
4. ^ (2005) Hawthorne in Concord, p. 88-89. 

References

• Bleiler, Everett (1948). The Checklist of Fantastic Literature. Chicago: Shasta Publishers, 145. 

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