Twice-Told Tales

This is Nathaniel Hawthorne’s first collection of short stories, published in 1837 and then expanded to 19 stories and reissued in 1842. It includes many of his best-known stories, including “The Minister’s Black Veil,” “The Maypole of Merrymount,” “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment,” “The Ambitious Guest,” “Mr. Higginbotham’s Catastrophe,” “The Gray Champion,” and the four-part “Legends of the Province House.” The tales all incorporate scenes and themes from New England history and demonstrate the young Hawthorne’s mastery of the short story form.