The Scarlet Letter: The Restored First Edition

By: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

The classic American novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, now restored from the original first-edition text.

The Scarlet Letter is Nathaniel Hawthorne’s masterpiece and ranked number 16 on The Guardian’s 100-best-novels list. Praised by Henry James as “beautiful, admirable, extraordinary,” this classic dark romance weaves intricate characters with vivid scenes to examine the risks of desire amid the Puritan life. While nearly all other modern publications feature the second-edition text—which introduced hundreds of changes—the original first edition is the most fluid and expressive telling of Hawthorne’s touchstone work. This all-new publication features the complete unabridged text, meticulously reproduced from page scans of the 1850 first-edition book. Each page was verified word by word and mark by mark, then corrected for typos to make for a clean reading experience.

This special edition of The Scarlet Letter includes:

• An all-new reproduction of Hawthorne’s 1850 first-edition text
• Restored passages missing from most other publications of the book today
• Hawthorne’s complete and unabridged preface: “The Custom-House”
• An introduction by editor Aldwin Grey
• Design elements and layout that mimic the original book

IN 17th-CENTURY BOSTON, Puritanism is thriving, and those who trespass its codes pay dearly. A young widowed woman, Hester Prynne, bears a child but will say nothing of the father. Forced to wear a red token on her breast, she walks through town alone, save for her growing, unruly daughter, Pearl. Meanwhile, when the town’s beloved minister falls ill, a mysterious physician steps in to help. With vivid symbolism, satire, and a climactic revelation, The Scarlet Letter probes the black depths and reveals the golden love of the human heart.

“Brilliant and groundbreaking.”
—The Guardian