Fanshawe is a novel written by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. It was his first published work, which he published anonymously in 1828. Background Hawthorne had worked on a novel as early as his time as an undergraduate at Bowdoin College. Fanshawe, his first published novel, may or may not have been that book. Fanshawe: A Tale appeared anonymously in October 1828 from the Boston publishers Marsh and Capen. Its printing was paid for at the author's own expense, costing him $100. The book was based on Hawthorne's experiences as a Bowdoin College student in the early 1820s. Fanshawe generally received positive reviews. In what may have been the first review, John Neal's magazine The Yankee referred to it as "powerful and pathetic" and said that the author "should be encouraged to persevering efforts by a fair prospect of future success." Sarah Josepha Hale, then editor of the Ladies' Magazine, advised potential readers buy the book rather than rely on finding it at a circulating library. As she wrote, "Purchase it, reader. There is but one volume, and trust me that it is worth placing in your library." William Leggett saw further potential in the young author: "The mind that produced this little, interesting volume, is capable of making great and rich additions to our native literature." The book, however, did not sell well. After its commercial failure, Hawthorne burned the unsold copies: "Later all the copies that could be obtained were destroyed. A dozen years after his death a copy was found and the tale reissued by James o & co." (quote cf. N.E. Brown, Bibl. of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Boston and New York, 1905) The novel was so rare and Hawthorne was so secretive about his early attempt at a novel that after his death his wife, Sophia, insisted her husband had never written a novel with that title, despite being shown a copy. Summary Dr. Melmoth, the president of fictional Harley College, takes into his care Ellen Langton, the daughter of his friend, Mr. Langton, who is at sea. Ellen is a young, beautiful girl and attracts the attentions of the college boys, especially Edward Walcott, a strapping though immature student, and Fanshawe, a reclusive, meek intellectual. While out walking, the three young people meet a nameless character called “the angler”, a name he gets for appearing an expert fisherman. The angler asks for a word with Ellen, tells