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Egotism; or, The Bosom Serpent

Nathaniel Hawthorne

First published 1846
Type Short Fiction
Length Short Story

A man is tormented by a serpent inside him. He created it by too much critical self-contemplation, but it is no mere figure of speech, because others see it when it finally leaves him.

First published in The Democratic Review, March 1843.

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
1846 Mosses from an Old Manse Wiley and Putnam Collection 22|2022
1854 Mosses from an Old Manse Ticknor and Fields Collection 2030
1937 Cover The Complete Novels and Selected Tales of Nathaniel Hawthorne Modern Library Omnibus 1106
1950 Selected Tales and Sketches Rinehart Collection |17
1962 Cover Hawthorne's Short Stories Dodd, Mead & Co. Collection |21
1963 Cover The Celestial Railroad and Other Stories Signet / New American Library Collection
1970 Cover Selected Tales and Sketches Holt, Rinehart and Winston Collection 249
1982 Cover Tales and Sketches The Library of America Omnibus 781
1987 Cover Selected Tales and Sketches Penguin Books (US) Collection 279
2007 Tales and Sketches The Library of America Omnibus |781
October 2008 The Snow-Image and Other Stories of the Supernatural Tartarus Press Collection 274