The Scarlet Letter

Extrait

The author is constrained, therefore, to republish his introductory sketch without the change of a word. Drawn by MARY HALLOCK FOOTE and Engraved by A. V. S. ANTHONY. The ornamental head-pieces are by L. S. IPSEN. It will be seen, likewise, that this Custom-House sketch has a certain propriety, of a kind always recognized in literature, as explaining how a large portion of the following pages came into my possession, and as offering proofs of the authenticity of a narrative therein contained. This, in fact,—a desire to put myself in my true position as editor, or very little more, of the most prolix among the tales that make up my volume,—this, and no other, is my true reason for assuming a personal relation with the public. In accomplishing the main purpose, it has appeared allowable, by a few extra touches, to give a faint representation of a mode of life not heretofore described, together with some of the characters that move in it, among whom the author happened to make one.

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