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"Browne's Folly": (From: "The Doliver Romance and Other Pieces: Tales and Sketches"): Classic Book Guide and Free Edition

"Browne's Folly": (From: "The Doliver Romance and Other Pieces: Tales and Sketches"): author and translator credits, catalogue synopsis, subjects and links to the Gutenberg reading formats.

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AI-generated editorial illustration — not a photograph of the subject
AI-generated editorial illustration — not a photograph of the subject

"Browne's Folly": (From: "The Doliver Romance and Other Pieces: Tales and Sketches") is catalogued by Project Gutenberg with author credits for Hawthorne, Nathaniel (1804–1864).

Catalogue synopsis

Project Gutenberg supplies this automated synopsis of the opening text:

"Browne's Folly" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a short story likely written in the mid-19th century. The narrative offers a blend of history and personal reflection, centering around a distinctive hillside near Salem, Massachusetts, that is steeped in local legend. The story serves as a meditation on memory and the passage of time, particularly reflecting on an old mansion that once stood with grandeur, only to succumb to neglect and the ravages of nature and time. In this piece, Hawthorne recounts his childhood memories of "Browne's Folly," a ridge associated with a former grand estate built by a Royalist named Browne, who fled during the Revolutionary War. The estate, shaken by an earthquake and eventually abandoned, becomes a canvas for the author’s reflections on the lives that once occupied the land. He vividly describes the landscape and the remnants of the mansion, contemplating how individual stories intertwine with broader histories. The narrative takes an intriguing turn when local schoolboys, curious about a mysterious closet in the dilapidated estate, discover family portraits that seem to bring the past to life, further emphasizing Hawthorne's themes of nostalgia and the echoes of history in personal memory.

Book and edition facts

  • Title: "Browne's Folly": (From: "The Doliver Romance and Other Pieces: Tales and Sketches")
  • Author credits: Hawthorne, Nathaniel (1804–1864)
  • Catalogue language: English

Catalogue subjects

  • Essays

Gutenberg collections

  • Category: American Literature
  • Category: Short Stories

Read this edition

View the complete Gutenberg catalogue record. Project Gutenberg identifies this edition as public domain in the United States; that designation does not establish its copyright status in every country.

Source notes

Catalogue metadata is public domain and is supplied through Gutendex, which imports Gutenberg's machine-readable catalogue. The automated synopsis is source-supplied, not an independently verified review. Author dates above describe the credited people; no ebook release date is presented as the book's original publication date.

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