Julian Hawthorne

Julian Hawthorne was an American writer and journalist, the only son of the celebrated novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne. His literary career, pursued under the immense shadow of his father's legacy, spanned novels, short stories, biographies, and journalism. While he achieved moderate popular success, his life was later marred by significant legal scandal. Today, he is often studied as a figure in the context of American literary history and the complexities of literary inheritance.

Early life and family

Born in Boston to Nathaniel Hawthorne and Sophia Hawthorne, he spent his early years in Concord, Massachusetts, amidst a notable literary and intellectual circle. His childhood environment included neighbors and family friends such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Herman Melville. Following his father's appointment by President Franklin Pierce, the family lived in Liverpool, England, and traveled in Italy, where Nathaniel Hawthorne served as United States Consul. After his father's death in 1864, he returned to the United States and studied civil engineering at Harvard College, though he did not graduate, turning his focus instead to writing.

Literary career

Launching his career with the novel Bressant (1873), he worked prolifically across genres, producing romances, mystery stories, and historical fiction. He authored several studies of his parents, including Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Wife (1884) and Hawthorne and His Circle (1903), which provide intimate, though sometimes idealized, portraits of his family's life. For many years, he was a popular contributor to periodicals like The Atlantic and Harper's Magazine, and he served as the literary critic for the New York World. His fiction, such as The Professor's Sister (1888) and the supernatural tale Archibald Malmaison (1884), often engaged with themes of heredity and psychological duality, reflecting the enduring influence of his father's work.

Later life and legal troubles

His later years were dominated by financial difficulties and a catastrophic legal scandal. In 1908, he became involved with the promotion of the Blue Ridge Corporation, a venture later exposed as fraudulent. He was indicted for mail fraud in connection with the scheme, which was linked to the wider Panic of 1907. Following a highly publicized trial in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, he was convicted in 1913. He served one year of his five-year sentence at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, an experience he later wrote about. After his release, he continued to write, producing works on the American Civil War and moving to California, where he spent his final years.

Legacy and assessment

His legacy is bifurcated between his contributions to American literature and his notorious conviction. Scholars often examine his work within the framework of postbellum literature and the challenges faced by children of famous artists. While his literary output is generally considered to lack the profundity of his father's, his biographical writings remain valuable primary sources for understanding Nathaniel Hawthorne and the Transcendentalist milieu of Concord, Massachusetts. His life story is frequently cited in discussions of authorship, scandal, and the Gilded Age in the United States.