To George William Curtis - photo 1
To George William Curtis - photo 2

To George William Curtis

Lot 86
15.06.2023 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Starting price
$ 5 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
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The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 967587
Lot 86 | To George William Curtis
Estimate value
$ 5 000 – 7 000
To George William Curtis

Nathaniel Hawthorne, 13 June 1846

HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel (1804-1864). Autograph letter signed ("Nath Hawthorne" and again "NH" in the postscript) to ("My dear Friend") [George William Curtis], Boston, 13 June 1846.



Two pages, 247 x 199mm (mounting strip along verso of left margin).



“I have the Custom House barge under my control, and intend to use it for all the purposes of a private yacht...”



An unpublished letter, sending a copy of Mosses from an Old Manse to George William Curtis, whom he met when he joined the utopian community of Brook Farm—the setting for The Blithedale Romance. It has often puzzled biographers and critics of Nathaniel Hawthorne that the eminent man of letters joined Brook Farm in 1841, but it is the case that his fertile imagination crafted many of his experiences there into his (unfortunately) little-read book, The Blithedale Romance (1852). While at Brook Farm he met handsome and convivial George William Curtis (1824-1892). Curtis and Hawthorne enjoyed each other’s company, and their friendship grew when Curtis moved to Concord in the early days of Nathaniel and Sophia's residency at the Old Manse. In April 1846, Hawthorne was sworn in as the Surveyor of the Custom House in Salem, and would go on to immortalize that office in the introductory chapter of The Scarlet Letter. He was temporarily settled in Boston, after spending several months living at his mother's home in Salem, but promises that by "August, we shall be established [in our own home] in Salem, and I hope you will spend a day or two with us there." Curtis wrote Hawthorne inviting him to climb a favorite mountain for the literati, Mount Monadnock in southern New Hampshire (Curtis’ letter is partly quoted in CE 16:166n3). Hawthorne responds with reasons why he cannot go—and a fond recollection of a previous climb: "I have been suffering from a kind of fever—not very serious, but which has left me not quite vigorous enough to achieve the Grand Monadnock, just at present." Hawthorne goes on to tell Curtis that he is sending him a copy of his latest work (the two-volume Mosses from an Old Manse), and, incredibly, an explanation of why he left Curtis out of the introductory chapter. Perhaps Hawthorne was concerned that Curtis, upon reading his friend’s sketch of those pleasant days in Concord, would be hurt to read through such fond recollections of time spent with Emerson, Lowell, Channing—even at Brook Farm—but not a word of one George William Curtis! He explains that Curtis was "connected with so many of our recollections there, that I would … have brought you into the introductory article, but found no graceful opportunity, and moreover did not quite feel that you had given yourself to the public sufficiently to authorize such freedom with your name." Hawthorne adds a wonderful postscript warmly inviting Curtis to visit the Hawthornes in Salem. Not only will Curtis find “pleasant walks, rural and sea-shore...” but, in a brilliant example of Hawthorne’s wit, offers an unexpected use of the Custom House barge: "I have the Custom House barge under my control, and intend to use it for all the purposes of a private yacht." A truly delightful letter showcasing the affable side of the reclusive Hawthorne. Not published in Letters, Centennial Edition.

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