Little Masterpieces

Little Masterpieces is one of various editions of selected Nathaniel Hawthorne short fiction that have been published across the years since his death, with the title pointing to the curatorial framing that the volume’s editor brought to the selection of Hawthorne’s shorter pieces considered most worth preserving. Various editors and publishers have produced selected Hawthorne editions across the decades, with each selection reflecting the editorial preferences and the wider critical sense of which Hawthorne pieces best represent his achievement.

The selected Hawthorne edition format was particularly common in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when various publishers produced affordable editions aimed at general readers and students who wanted access to Hawthorne’s work without committing to the multi volume complete editions that the more dedicated readers and scholars would purchase. The various Little Masterpieces or similarly titled volumes typically include a selection of Hawthorne’s most famous shorter pieces alongside lesser known selections that the editor considered especially worth preserving.

For readers approaching Hawthorne for the first time through a selected edition like Little Masterpieces, the major short stories that any serious selection would include are essential. Young Goodman Brown, The Minister’s Black Veil, Rappaccini’s Daughter, The Birthmark, The Artist of the Beautiful, and various others have remained the foundational Hawthorne short fiction across the long history of his critical reputation. The selected editions provide accessible entry points to the wider Hawthorne short fiction catalogue without the commitment of the major novels or the complete editions.

For students of nineteenth century American literature or of Hawthorne’s wider catalogue, the various selected editions are useful resources. The specific selection in any particular edition reflects the editor’s choices, but the foundational major shorter pieces appear across most of the selections.