1620 Nathaniel Hawthorne in His Times, by James R. Mellow (read 11 Mar 1981) (National Book Award biography prize for 1983) This excellent biography was published in 1980. It is as good a biography as could have been written of Hawthorne--his life was not overly exciting and I am not sure I look on his work as all that stupendous--and I really enjoyed the book. Hawthorne was born 4 July 1804, went to Bowdoin (as did Longfellow) where Franklin Pierce was a close friend, and served as consul in Liverpool during Pierce's
Administration. Hawthorne died May 18, 1864. His funeral was attended by Longfellow, Holmes, Whittier, Lowell and Emerson. Melville had dropped into obscurity. Hawthorne had three children--one became a Catholic sister and died July 9, 1926 as Mother Alphonsa. This was a very, very good book. ( )