Nathaniel Hawthorne and the Spirit of Science
A new series introduced by the Editors
Special Series
Several of the best stories by the great American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) touch on the moral meaning of modern science. The New Atlantis is publishing a series of essays devoted to Hawthorne’s stories about science, technology, and progress. With every essay but one, we are publishing online a critical edition of the corresponding Hawthorne story. Each essay is accompanied by illustrations by Elliott Banfield. The illustrations are collected here.
To learn more about Hawthorne and our series, please read our introductory essay, “Nathaniel Hawthorne and the Spirit of Science.”
The text of the Hawthorne stories presented in this series is generally based on the final editions published during the author’s lifetime. Our critical editions keep intact the original spelling and punctuation, except when the source text is obviously mistaken. Paragraphs are numbered for the purposes of classroom discussion, and all annotations are by our editorial team, unless otherwise indicated.
A new series introduced by the Editors
On “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” and the allure of immortality
On “Rappaccini’s Daughter” and the crooked path to Paradise
On “The Artist of the Beautiful” and the meeting of the spiritual and material realms
Reading The Blithedale Romance, a novel of utopian hopes and human passions