HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel (1804-1864). Autograph manuscript fragment, a portion of Our Old Home, n.p., ca. 1863.

Two pages, 245 x 195mm with numerous corrections and emendations in his hand (minor marginal tears not affecting text, several contemporary ink smudges).

A contemporary draft manuscript from Hawthorne's collection of essays, largely derived from the notebooks he maintained during his tenure as U.S. Consul in Liverpool from 1853 to 1857, chronicling his family's sightseeing trips, "with due attention to nature, architecture, and the whimsicalities of British character." (CE, 5:xiii). The present manuscript, is a portion of his essay, "About Warwick," describing the grandeur of St. Mary's Church, delighting in the ringing of the church bells at noon, "with a very deep intonation, and immediately some chimes began to play, and kept up their resounding music for five minutes, as measured by the and upon the dial. It was a very delightful harmony, as any as the notes of birds, and seemed a not unbecoming freak of half-sportive fancy in the huge, ancient and solemn church, although I have seen an old fashioned parlor-clock that did precisely the same thing in its small way." The text appears on pages 99-102 of the 1863 edition. Provenance: Anderson Galleries, 12-14 June 1916, lot 421. – A. Edward Newton (bookplate) – Walter P. Chrysler (bookplate) – Sotheby's, New York, 11 December 1993, lot 383 (part).