"
The change in his own circumstances which Hawthorne looked for did not
come through his book. It sold some six or seven hundred copies in a
short time, but was received quietly, [Footnote: Some of the sketches
were reprinted in England; and "A Rill from the Town Pump" was
circulated in pamphlet form by a London bookseller, without the author's
name, as a temperance tract.] though Longfellow, then lately established
in his Harvard professorship, and known as the author of "Outre-Mer,"
greeted it with enthusiasm in the "North American Review," which wielded
a great influence in literary affairs.
On March 7, 1837, Hawthorne sent this note to his former classmate, to
announce the new volume.
"The agent of the American Stationer's Company will send you a copy of a
book entitled 'Twice-Told Tales,'--of which, as a classmate, I venture
to request your acceptance. We were not, it is true, so well acquainted
at college, that I can plead an absolute right to inflict my
'twice-told' tediousness upon you; but I have often regretted that we
were not better known to each other, and have been glad of your success
in literature and in more important matters." Returning to the tales, he
adds: "I should like to flatter myself that they would repay you some
part of the pleasure which I have derived from your own 'Outre-Mer.'
"Your obedient servant,
"NATH. HAWTHORNE."
Longfellow replied warmly, and in June Hawthorne wrote again, a long
letter picturing his mood with a fulness that shows how keenly he had
felt the honest sympathy of the poet.
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