Editing Nathaniel Hawthorne (section)

===Middle years===
[[File:Nathaniel Hawthorne by Whipple c1848.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Daguerrotype]] of Hawthorne, [[John Adams Whipple|Whipple & Black]], 1848]]
In April 1846, Hawthorne was officially appointed the Surveyor for the District of Salem and Beverly and Inspector of the Revenue for the Port of Salem at an annual salary of $1,200.<ref>Miller, 242</ref> He had difficulty writing during this period, as he admitted to Longfellow:

<blockquote>I am trying to resume my pen&nbsp;... Whenever I sit alone, or walk alone, I find myself dreaming about stories, as of old; but these forenoons in the Custom House undo all that the afternoons and evenings have done. I should be happier if I could write.<ref>Miller, 265</ref></blockquote>

This employment, like his earlier appointment to the custom house in Boston, was vulnerable to the politics of the [[spoils system]]. Hawthorne was a Democrat and lost this job due to the change of administration in Washington after the presidential election of 1848. He wrote a letter of protest to the ''Boston Daily Advertiser'', which was attacked by the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whigs]] and supported by the Democrats, making Hawthorne's dismissal a much-talked about event in New England.<ref>Cheever, 179</ref> He was deeply affected by the death of his mother in late July, calling it "the darkest hour I ever lived".<ref>Cheever, 180</ref> He was appointed the corresponding secretary of the Salem Lyceum in 1848. Guests who came to speak that season included Emerson, Thoreau, [[Louis Agassiz]], and [[Theodore Parker]].<ref>Miller, 264–265</ref>

Hawthorne returned to writing and published ''[[The Scarlet Letter]]'' in mid-March 1850,<ref>Miller, 300</ref> including a preface that refers to his three-year tenure in the Custom House and makes several allusions to local politicians—who did not appreciate their treatment.<ref>Mellow, 316</ref> It was one of the first mass-produced books in America, selling 2,500 volumes within ten days and earning Hawthorne $1,500 over 14 years.<ref name=McFarland136>McFarland, 136</ref> The book became a best-seller in the United States<ref>Cheever, 181</ref> and initiated his most lucrative period as a writer.<ref name=McFarland136/> Hawthorne's friend [[Edwin Percy Whipple]] objected to the novel's "morbid intensity" and its dense psychological details, writing that the book "is therefore apt to become, like Hawthorne, too painfully anatomical in his exhibition of them",<ref>Miller, 301–302</ref> while 20th-century writer [[D.&nbsp;H. Lawrence]] said that there could be no more perfect work of the American imagination than ''The Scarlet Letter''.<ref>Miller, 284</ref>

Hawthorne and his family moved to a small red farmhouse near [[Lenox, Massachusetts]], at the end of March 1850.<ref>Miller, 274</ref> He became friends with [[Herman Melville]] beginning on August 5, 1850, when the authors met at a picnic hosted by a mutual friend.<ref>Cheever, 96</ref> Melville had just read Hawthorne's short story collection ''[[Mosses from an Old Manse]]'', and his unsigned review of the collection was printed in ''[[The Literary World (New York City)|The Literary World]]'' on August 17 and August 24 titled "Hawthorne and His Mosses".<ref>Miller, 312</ref> Melville wrote that these stories revealed a dark side to Hawthorne, "shrouded in blackness, ten times black".<ref name=Mellow335>Mellow, 335</ref> He was composing his novel ''[[Moby-Dick]]'' at the time,<ref name=Mellow335/> and dedicated the work in 1851 to Hawthorne: "In token of my admiration for his genius, this book is inscribed to Nathaniel Hawthorne."<ref>Mellow, 382</ref>

Hawthorne's time in the [[Berkshires]] was very productive.<ref name=Wright93>Wright, John Hardy. ''Hawthorne's Haunts in New England''. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2008: 93. {{ISBN|978-1596294257}}</ref> While there, he wrote ''[[The House of the Seven Gables (novel)|The House of the Seven Gables]]'' (1851), which poet and critic [[James Russell Lowell]] said was better than ''The Scarlet Letter'' and called "the most valuable contribution to New England history that has been made."<ref>Mellow, 368–369</ref> He also wrote ''[[The Blithedale Romance]]'' (1852), his only work written in the first person.<ref name="McFarland, 149"/> He also published ''[[A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys]]'' in 1851, a collection of short stories retelling myths that he had been thinking about writing since 1846.<ref>Miller, 345</ref> Nevertheless, poet [[William Ellery Channing (poet)|Ellery Channing]] reported that Hawthorne "has suffered much living in this place".<ref>Wineapple, 241</ref> The family enjoyed the scenery of the Berkshires, although Hawthorne did not enjoy the winters in their small house. They left on November 21, 1851.<ref name=Wright93/> Hawthorne noted, "I am sick to death of Berkshire&nbsp;... I have felt languid and dispirited, during almost my whole residence."<ref>Wineapple, 242</ref>