Passages from the English Notebooks (Complete)

It seems justly due to Mr. Hawthorne that the occasion of any portion of
his private journals being brought before the Public should be made
known, since they were originally designed for his own reference only.

There had been a constant and an urgent demand for a life or memoir of
Mr. Hawthorne; yet, from the extreme delicacy and difficulty of the
subject, the Editor felt obliged to refuse compliance with this demand.
Moreover, Mr. Hawthorne had frequently and emphatically expressed the
hope that no one would attempt to write his Biography; and the Editor
perceived that it would be impossible for any person, outside of his own
domestic circle, to succeed in doing it, on account of his extreme
reserve.  But it was ungracious to do nothing, and therefore the Editor,
believing that Mr. Hawthorne himself was alone capable of satisfactorily
answering the affectionate call for some sketch of his life, concluded to
publish as much as possible of his private records, and even extracts
from his private letters, in order to gratify the desire of his friends
and of literary artists to become more intimately acquainted with him.
The Editor has been severely blamed and wondered at, in some instances,
for allowing many things now published to see the light; but it has been
a matter both of conscience and courtesy to withhold nothing that could
be given up.  Many of the journals were doubtless destroyed; for the
earliest date found in his American papers was that of 1835.