Prophetic Pictures ― Nathaniel Hawthorne's Knowledge and Uses of the Visual Arts

This study takes an unusual approach to Nathaniel Hawthorne's knowledge and uses of the visual arts by tracing his encounters with art in New England, then focusing on his determined effort to acquire a taste for painting at the Manchester Exhibition in 1857. The authors explore Hawthorne's responses to art as he traveled through France and Italy, and discuss his continuing interest in the visual arts once he returned to America. A special section contains Hawthorne's responses to selected works of art, together with photographs of the works themselves.

RITA K. GOLLIN is Professor of English at the State University of New York at Geneseo. Her previous books includePortraits of Nathaniel Hawthorne: An Iconography and Nathaniel Hawthorne and the Truth of Dreams.

JOHN L. IDOL, Jr., is Professor of English at Clemson University. /e His previous works includeA Thomas Wolfe Companion (Greenwood Press, 1987).

STERLING K. EISIMINGER is Professor of English at Clemson University. He is the author of The Consequences of Error and Other Essays (1991) andWordspinner (1991).