<i>The Scarlet Letter</i>&nbsp;caused quite a stir when it first appeared in February, 1850. The initial printing of 2,500 volumes sold out within ten days. It was one of the first mass-produced books in America and was widely read and discussed to an extent not much experienced in the young country up until that time.&nbsp;<i>The Scarlet Letter &ndash; Original February 1850 Uncensored Version</i>&nbsp;is the first incarnation of the book, before Hawthorne added a preface to a second edition of&nbsp;<i>The Scarlet Letter</i>&nbsp;which was published a month later.<br /><br />The story tells of Hester Prynne, condemned to wear the red letter A on her breast, as punishment for adultery &ndash; and because she resists all attempts of the Boston clergy to make her reveal the name of her child&rsquo;s father. Prynne&rsquo;s husband, an old physician who had remained in Europe, arrives in America to see her on the pillory. Assuming the name of Roger Chillingworth, he decides to seek revenge.<br /><br />Henry James once said of&nbsp;<i>The Scarlet Letter</i>, &quot;It is beautiful, admirable, extraordinary; it has in the highest degree that merit which I have spoken of as the mark of Hawthorne&#39;s best things&mdash;an indefinable purity and lightness of conception...One can often return to it; it supports familiarity and has the inexhaustible charm and mystery of great works of art.&quot;