NMLP P-022203 · True-first precedence · minted 2026-07-04

The Scarlet Letter: A Romance

Nathaniel Hawthorne · Ticknor, Reed & Fields (Boston) · 1850

US true first edition, Ticknor, Reed & Fields, 1850. The first printing of 2,500 copies sold quickly and a second printing of 2,500 followed within weeks. The second printing ADDED Hawthorne's preface (dated March 30, 1850) responding to the controversy over 'The Custom-House' sketch, in which he reprinted the introduction without change; the presence of that preface indicates the second printing, not the first.

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New Mexico Literacy Project — True-first precedence NMLP P-022203 for "The Scarlet Letter: A Romance" by Nathaniel Hawthorne (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/id/point/p-022203, CC BY 4.0, dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21184548).