The Affair of Edgar Poe and Frances Osgood in The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter is Nathaniel Hawthorne's most beloved novel. Published in March of 1850, the book quickly sold out of its first two printruns. It is still widely read in classrooms worldwide and taught as a moral allegory that warns against the mental and physical tolls of infidelity.

Attorney Andrew Barger has uncovered another allegorical layer of the novel-the rumored love affair between Edgar Allan Poe and popular author Frances Osgood that may have resulted in Osgood's third child. In over five hundred footnotes, Barger rigorously deconstructs The Scarlet Letter to reveal the puritanical portrayal of Osgood as Hester Prynne, Poe as Minister Dimmesdale, Fanny Fay as Pearl, Rufus Griswold as Chillingworth, and several other real-life authors of the day. In doing so, Barger has unlocked entire new historical facets to Hawthorne's famous novel.

Learn about the secret ciphers Hawthorne used throughout The Scarlet Letter and the code embedded in the novels cryptic ending. The book further elucidates on numerous historical facts and perceptions about authors of Hawthorne's day.

What can be written about The Scarlet Letter now that the novel is approaching two centuries after its publication? It turns out, there is much more to be discovered.