Description:

Hawthorne Nathaniel 1804 - 1864

"Scarlet Letter" author Nathaniel Hawthorne bold signature clip with scarce Consul designation.

A lovely scarce Nathaniel Hawthorne neat signature cut on paper, 1.5" x .5", affixed to a sheet, 6" x 9", indicating provenance that this was "given by James Fields, 1858" . Signed by Hawthorne including his rare designation of Consul, as "N. Hawthorne/ Consul & C". Near fine with a small glue stain.

A bold signature cut of Nathanial Hawthorne, who was a member of the United States Consulate, in Liverpool, England. The Consulate was established in 1790, and was the first overseas consulate founded by the then fledgling United States of America. Liverpool was at the time an important center for transatlantic commerce and a vital trading partner for the former Thirteen Colonies. Among those who served the United States as consul in Liverpool were the writer Nathanial Hawthorne, the spy Thomas Haines Dudley, and john S. Service, who was driven out of the United States Foreign Service by McCarthyite persecution. Hawthorne was appointed in 1853, shortly after the publication of his book "Tanglewood Tales". The position was considered the most lucrative foreign service position at the time, and was described by Hawthorne's wife as "second in dignity to the Embassy in London". However, life in Liverpool was evidently expensive, and Hawthorne complained to the Secretary of State that he was underpaid, and asked for living expenses of $7,500, arguing that a consul: "cannot possibly live here with a family (unless he secludes himself from society and forgoes all the social advantages of a residence in England). A man might be comfortable with this in a New England village, but not, I assure you, as the representative of America in the greatest commercial city in England".

In 1855 this was done. Congress passed a law fixing the salary of the consul at Liverpool at $7,500 per year.

A lovely example of Hawthorne's signature with a scarce Consul designation.

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