Dr. Bullivant

In Cornhill, 1670, Nathaniel Hawthorne brings to life a colonial street where an apothecary's shop becomes an unlikely haven of wit. Dr. Bullivant, a cheerful, quick-witted, almost shape-shifting figure, dispenses jokes as readily as medicines, delighting customers and passersby in a stern Puritan world that mistrusts laughter. Through Hawthorne's reflective portrait, Bullivant stands as a vivid exception to the habitual gloom of early New England, his humor subtly challenging the rigid moral climate around him. Yet the scene is more than a character sketch. Hawthorne uses it to trace a broader change in New England society as the original Puritan generation fades and commerce, immigration, and contact with worldly outsiders begin to soften old restraints. The result is a colony slowly moving away from severe religious discipline toward a more varied, complex social order, where even amusement carries the weight of cultural change. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.