American novelist, born at Salem, Massachusetts; his early ambition was to be a literary man, and "Twice-told Tales" was the first production by which he won distinction, after the publication of which he spent some months at Brook Farm (q. v .), leaving which he married and took up house at Concord; from 1848 to 1850 he held a State appointment, and in his leisure hours wrote his "Scarlet Letter," which appeared in the latter year, and established his fame as a master of literature; this was followed by "The House of the Seven Gables," "The Snow Image," "The Blithedale Romance," and by-and-by "The Marble Faun," and "Our Old Home" (1804-1864).