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Revelation of the Scarlet Letter, from Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter"

Author Related author Nathaniel Hawthorne American
ca. 1879
Not on view
Darley here illustrates Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter, A Romance" (published 1850). The drawing was reproduced in 1879 as the first print in a set of twelve "Compositions in Outline." Set in seventeenth-century Boston, the story explores the consequences of a liason between Hester Prynne and the Puritan pastor Arthur Dimmesdale. When Hester becomes pregnant, she refuses to identify her child's father, is imprisoned, and forced to wear a red letter "A" on her dress (to mark her as an adultress). After release, she lives in an isolated cottage, supports herself as a seamstress, and raises her daughter Pearl. This image responds to the tale's climactic ending where Dimmesdale collapses after making a public confession. Before dying, he reveals a scarlet letter of his own–a red mark that has appeared on the skin of his chest. Lines from Hawthorne's text, inscribed below the image, are addressed by the pastor to Hester's revengeful husband, who kneels at left. See 14.111.2–.5 for other drawings from the set.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Revelation of the Scarlet Letter, from Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter"
  • Series/Portfolio: Design for Plate 12 in "Compositions in Outline from Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter by F. O. C. Darley," Boston, Houghton, Osgood & Company, 1879, printed in heliotype.
  • Artist: Felix Octavius Carr Darley (American, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1822–1888 Claymont, Delaware)
  • Author: Related author Nathaniel Hawthorne (American, Salem, Massachusetts 1804–1864 Plymouth, New Hampshire)
  • Date: ca. 1879
  • Medium: Pen and black ink over graphite
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 15 1/8 x 20 3/8 in. (38.4 x 51.8 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Gift of W. A. White, 1914
  • Object Number: 14.111.1
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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The Wept of the Wish-Ton-Wish, Felix Octavius Carr Darley American, Steel engraving and black ink on off-white wove card (Bristol-type paper)
The Wept of the Wish-Ton-Wish
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The Wept of the Wish-Ton-Wish
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A Rowdy Party, Felix Octavius Carr Darley American, Pen and brown and black ink, brush and wash, over graphite
A Rowdy Party
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Washington Irving's Illustrations of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Designed and Etched by F.O.C. Darley for the Members of the American Art Union, 1850, Felix Octavius Carr Darley American, Lithographs (called etching on stone)
Washington Irving's Illustrations of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Designed and Etched by F.O.C. Darley for the Members of the American Art Union, 1850
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1849–50

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