This Second Norton Critical Edition also includes:
- Revised and expanded explanatory footnotes, a new preface, and a note on the text by Leland S. Person.
- Key passages from Hawthorne's notebooks and letters that suggest the close relationship between his private and public writings
- Seven new critical essays by Brook Thomas, Michael Ryan, Thomas R. Mitchell, Jay Grossman, Jamie Barlowe, John Ronan, and John F. Birk.
- A Chronology and revised and expanded Selected Bibliography.