Nathaniel Hawthorne’s second book for children,
Famous Old People(1841), is the sequel to
Grandfather’s Chair. Like
Grandfather’s Chair,
Famous Old Peopleis 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 Chairby 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 replaced we are told by “quite a different set of men” (71). These men are governors, politicians, and soldiers who by both…
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Citation: Laffrado, Laura. "Famous Old People". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 August 2011; last revised 08 October 2018. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=33485, accessed 24 November 2024.]
