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The Blithedale Romance
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The Blithedale Romance Paperback -

by Nathaniel Hawthorne


About this book

A superb depiction of a utopian community that cannot survive the individual passions of its members. In language that is suggestive and often erotic, Nathaniel Hawthorne tells a tale of failed possibilities and multiple personal betrayals as he explores the contrasts between what his characters espouse and what they actually experience in an 'ideal' community. A theme of unrealized sexual possibilities serves as a counterpoint to the other failures at Blithedale: class and sex distinctions are not eradicated, and communal work on the farm proves personally unrewarding and economically disastrous. Based in part on Hawthorne's own experiences at Brook Farm, an experimental socialist community, The Blithedale Romance is especially timely in light of renewed interest in self-sufficient and other cooperative societies.


From the publisher

The evening before my departure for Blithedale, I was returning to my bachelor apartments, after attending the wonderful exhibition of the Veiled Lady, when an elderly man of rather shabby appearance met me in an obscure part of the street. "Mr. Coverdale," said he softly, "can I speak with you a moment?" As I have casually alluded to the Veiled Lady, it may not be amiss to mention, for the benefit of such of my readers as are unacquainted with her now forgotten celebrity, that she was a phenomenon in the mesmeric line; one of the earliest that had indicated the birth of a new science, or the revival of an old humbug.

First Edition Identification

Ticknor, Reed and Fields published a First Printing, First Edition in Coston, 1852. The hardcover is bound in brown cloth, blind stamped boards, and gilt lettering on the spine.


Chapman and Hall published a First Edition in London, 1852. The hardcover is bound in brown cloth, stamped blind and lettered in gilt. 


Details

  • Title The Blithedale Romance
  • Author Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • Binding Paperback
  • Pages 110
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Createspace
  • Date 4/23/201
  • ISBN 9781484802434 / 1484802438
  • Weight 0.35 lbs (0.16 kg)
  • Dimensions 9 x 6 x 0.23 in (22.86 x 15.24 x 0.58 cm)
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC