Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The House of the Seven Gables appeared in 1852, 13 years after the invention of the daguerreotype had been made public in Paris. Like many artists of that time, Hawthorne took a great interest in this new medium which opened a range of new possibilities for the sciences and arts. Since the daguerreotype plays a central role in The House of the Seven Gables I want to take a closer look at the impact it had on the culture in which Hawthorne was living, and at his own thoughts about it. To do so I will first give a little overview about the history and technology of the new medium, and also take a look at the lively discourse which soon surrounded it. This historical background I will then use as a basis for an interpretation of the novel. I will show how Hawthorne consciously uses the contradictory views on the daguerreotype to present a critique of "objective representation".
The daguerreotypes which illustrate this essay are "borrowed" from the website of the Daguerrean Society (www.daguerre.org/home.html), from an online essay by Dan Meinwald (cmp1.ucr.edu/terminals/memento_mori) and from a site dedicated to the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne (eldred.ne.mediaone.net/nh/hawthorne.html). As I borrowed from them and others, so it is ok to copy from this essay (no copyright). Itís all an eternal cycle of thieveries anyway, isn't it? If you think otherwise, contact me at vhummel@foni.net.
Volker Hummel, June 1999