In 1838, Hawthorne suggested to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that they collaborate on a story for children based on the legend of the Pandora’s Box, but this never materialized.
Years later he wrote A Wonder Book in 1851, adapting six Greek legends from Charles Anton’s A Classical Dictionary.
Hawthorne set out deliberately to “modernize” the stories, freeing them from what he called “cold moonshine” and using a romantic, readable style that was criticized by adults but proved universally popular with children.
