Nathaniel Hawthorne’s second book for children, Famous Old People (1841), is the sequel to Grandfather’s Chair. Like Grandfather’s Chair, Famous Old People is composed of a Preface and eleven chapters, but four rather than five formally titled stories. Hawthorne playfully signals his continuation of the historical stories and of the narrative model that he had established in Grandfather’s Chair by beginning the Preface with “Grandfather again shoves his great Chair before the youthful public, and desires to make them acquainted with a new dynasty of occupants”. “The iron race of Puritans” who were portrayed in the first book for children are now …
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Citation: Laffrado, Laura. "Famous Old People". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 August 2011; last revised 08 October 2018. [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=33485, accessed 24 November 2024.]
