The Library owns a first edition copy of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, published by the prestigious Boston publishing company Ticknor, Reed and Fields in 1850. There were only 2,500 first edition copies and they sold out in 10 days. It was one of the first mass-produced novels in the country and was printed using plates, rather than by hand. The book is prefaced by an introduction written by Hawthorne called “The Custom-House,” in which the narrator gives background to the Massachusetts colony and sets up the story of The Scarlet Letter. A sticker inside the cover indicates that the Library acquired the book on November 24th, 1902.
