The Man of Adamant: An Apologue
| First published | 1851 |
|---|---|
| Type | Short Fiction |
| Length | Short Story |
Richard Digby is a Puritan who considers himself more pure in his religion than anyone else. He travels into the wilderness in order to find a place where his prayers will not be "mingled with the sinful supplications of the multitude." After three days he is visited by a young woman he once knew who appears angelic and begs him to return to the community. He sends her away angrily, before dying of (literal and figurative) hardening of the heart. In fact, she is a ghost or heavenly messenger.
First published (as by "the author of The Gentle Boy") in the Token, 1837.
| Date | Publication | Publisher | Type | Page | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1851 | The Snow-Image, and Other Tales | Henry G. Bohn | Collection | 122 | |
| January 1852 |
|
The Snow-Image, and Other Twice-Told Tales | Ticknor, Reed, and Fields | Collection | 193 |
| 1970 |
|
Selected Tales and Sketches | Holt, Rinehart and Winston | Collection | 227 |
| 1982 |
|
Tales and Sketches | The Library of America | Omnibus | 421 |
| 1987 |
|
Selected Tales and Sketches | Penguin Books (US) | Collection | 208 |
| 2005 |
|
The Portable Hawthorne | Penguin Books (US) | Collection | 80 |
| 2007 | Tales and Sketches | The Library of America | Omnibus | |421 |