19th century North America and Europe. Her diagnosis had no objective, scientific validity, but was a common interpretation of unpleasant and unfamiliar bodily sensations. The phenomenon even has a modern name, “bosom serpentry,” taken from a short...

Enjoy the contest results. Wear red. Guests welcome, $5. 978-314-2442. Salem: "Melopoeia," 7 p.m. , The House of the Seven Gables, 115 Derby St. Evening of music and poetry to celebrate the 170th anniversary of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Sophia Peabody's...

Free; goodwill offering accepted. 781-631-4951. "MELOPOEIA." Tuesday, Feb. 21, 7 p.m. , The House of the Seven Gables, 115 Derby St. , Salem. Evening of music and poetry to celebrate the 170th anniversary of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Sophia Peabody's...

He cultivated opacity, believing that the less people saw of the flesh and blood man the more he could accomplish. This earned him a “frosty respect.” It’s impossible to imagine anyone asking Washington whether he wears boxers or briefs, although...

Thus any remark may become more of a definitive permanent record than she or he may have intended, especially when taken out of its historical context. So let's look a bit at the contemporary context of Nathaniel Hawthorne's prickly assessment of the...

Besides being, arguably, some of the most influential American writers of the 19th century, the aforementioned people were also members of what is now the Unitarian Universalist faith. A liberal religious tradition that combines practices from...