Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Life of Franklin Pierce. Boston: Ticknor, Reed and Fields, 1852. Inscribed by Franklin Pierce

Property of Various Owners

HAWTHORNE, NATHANIEL

THE LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. BOSTON: TICKNOR, REED AND FIELDS, 1852

8vo (7 1/8 x 4 3/8 in.; 180 x 112 mm). Publisher's advertisements bound in at front, engraved frontispiece portrait of Pierce; a few stray spots and instances of staining. Original dark brown cloth, covers decoratively stamped in blind, spine gilt lettered; slight wear to head and foot of spine, extremities rubbed, lacking front free endpaper. 

First edition, inscribed by Franklin Pierce to the Ohio newspaper publisher Washington McLean: “For Washington McLean from Frank. Pierce Concord N.H. Feby. 5. 1853.”

Hawthorne and Pierce met at Bowdoin College, and developed a close friendship. In 1846, Pierce helped Hawthorne secure the position of Surveyor of the Custom House in Salem, and six years later, Hawthorne wrote this Life of Franklin Pierce, a biography that helped win Pierce the 1852 presidential election. Following the election, Pierce made Hawthorne American Consul to the Port of Liverpool, a posting that provided Hawthorne with a substantial income, and inspired the author's later works.

Such association copies linking great American political and literary figures are rare. No other examples of this title signed by Pierce have appeared at auction in the last fifty years.

LITERATURE:

BAL 7612; Clark A21.1