Reading Henry James

About Henry James and his life

Henry James: A Life, by Leon Edel
This one-volume condensed version of Edel’s classic five-volume biography is, like its larger sibling, out of print, though used copies can be found on Amazon and other web sites.
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Henry James: The Imagination of Genius, A Biography, by Fred Kaplan
The only one-volume biography of Henry James currently in print. It owes much to Edel, but stands as a fine work of its own.
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Henry James: The Young Master, by Sheldon M. Novick
The first volume of Novick’s sometimes controversial biography.
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Henry James: The Mature Master, by Sheldon M. Novick
The second volume of Novick’s sometimes controversial biography. Currently only in hardcover.
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Henry James: A Life in Letters
A selection of Henry James’ letters, chosen to give an overview of his life.
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House of Wits: An Intimate Portrait of the James Family, by Paul Fisher
A fine biography of the entire James family: father Henry Sr., famous brother William, sister Alice, as well as mother Mary and the two “minor” brothers, Wilkie and Bob. This book especially helps to understand Henry’s youth spent traveling around Europe, and his disjointed education. Well written, this is a very enjoyable read.
Read my review.
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The James Family A Group Biography, by F. O. Matthiessen
A recent reedition of a book that has been out of print some 40 years. I haven’t read this one yet, but Matthiessen is a well-known critic and I’m sure this will have much of interest.
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Henry James: Overlook Illustrated Lives, by Mary Ann Caws
A brief biography which is worthwhile mainly for the large number of photos it includes, many seen rarely in other books.
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A Private Life of Henry James: Two Women and His Art by Lyndall Gordon
A book about the relationships between Henry James and two important women in his life, his cousin Minnie Temple (the inspiration for both Isabel Archer, the heroine of The Portrait of a Lady, and Milly Theale, the heroine of The Wings of the Dove), and author Constance Fenimore Woolson. The former died young of tuberculosis, and the latter committed suicide.
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Henry James Goes to Paris, by Peter Brooks
An account of a year that Henry lived in Paris, starting in late 1875. He got to know many famous authors, and appreciated living in the city. Read my review.
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The Year of Henry James: The Story of a Novel, by David Lodge
Writing about his experience in using Henry James as the protagonist of a novel (Author, Author), and the odd coincidence of another major author doing the same thing in the same year (Colm Toíbin’s The Master), Lodge muses on Henry James’ life, and on his own experience working with the author. This 100-page essay is only part of the book; the rest is made up of prefaces Lodge wrote to other works of fiction, including one about Daisy Miller. Written with Lodge’s usual funny, self-deprecating style, this is an excellent book, as much about Lodge as it is about James.
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A Ring of Conspirators: Henry James and His Literary Circle, 1895-1915, by Miranda Seymour
A sort of group mini-biography of Henry and the relations he had for a period in England with H. G. Wells, Stephen Crane, Ford Madox Ford, Joseph Conrad and Edith Wharton. An interesting book that sheds light on a more gregarious Henry than what one often sees. Out of print.
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William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism, by Robert D. Richardson
An immensely interesting biography of Henry’s older brother William, the famous philosopher and psychologist. One can only understand Henry’s life by understanding the rivalry between him and William.
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Books by Henry James

The Library of America
The Library of America has the most complete set of Henry James’ works, both fiction and non-fiction. With fourteen volumes currently available, these books include all of James’ stories, and all of his novels through The Wings of the Dove. (A future volume will include The Ambassadors and The Golden Bowl, and, perhaps, his posthumous works.)

These books are the best choice for anyone wanting to read more than a handful of Henry James’ works. Affordable and attractive, with excellent typography and paper, these compact hardcovers contain between 900 and 1,200 pages each.

Complete stories in five volumes

Complete Stories 1864-1874
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Complete Stories 1874-1884
Includes the classic novella Daisy Miller.
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Complete Stories 1884-1891
Includes the classic novella The Aspern Papers.
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Complete Stories, 1892-1898
Includes The Turn of the Screw.
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Complete Stories 1898-1910
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Complete novels (series currently not finished)

Novels 1871-1880: Watch and Ward / Roderick Hudson / The American / The Europeans / Confidence
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Novels 1881-1886: Washington Square / The Portrait of a Lady / The Bostonians
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Novels 1886-1890: The Princess Casamassima / The Reverberator / The Tragic Muse
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Novels 1896-1899: The Other House / The Spoils of Poynton / What Maisie Knew / The Awkward Age
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Novels 1901-1902: The Sacred Fount / The Wings of the Dove
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Non-fiction works

Collected Travel Writings: The Continent: A Little Tour in France / Italian Hours / Other Travels
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Collected Travel Writings: Great Britain and America: English Hours / The American Scene / Other Travels
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Literary Criticism, Vol. 1: Essays / English and American Writers
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Literary Criticism, Vol. 2: French Writers / Other European Writers / The Prefaces to the New York Edition
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Other collections of Henry James’ works

Collected Stories in two volumes
This Everyman’s Library edition, in two volumes, contains 2,400 pages of stories, in chronological order. This set contains a number of short stories, but also several of the better-known novellas, such as Daisy Miller, An International Episode, The Aspern Papers (volume 1), The Turn of the Screw, In the Cage, and The Papers (volume 2). Attractively typeset, these volumes are thicker and heavier than Library of America volumes of the same length. However, if you just want a selection of the best stories, this is a great set.

Collected Stories Volume 1
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Collected Stories Volume 2
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Tales of Henry James
This Norton Critical Edition includes “nine of James’s most important tales”, such as In the Cage, and also includes James’ essay The Art of Fiction.
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Selected Tales
This Penguin Classics edition at under 600 pages contains a limited selection of stories, but includes Daisy Miller and In the Cage.
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Major Stories and Essays
This Library of America paperback “college edition” contains 700 pages of stories and essays, including Daisy Miller, The Aspern Papers, The Beast in the Jungle, The Figure in the Carpet, and The Great Good Place, as well as his essay, The Art of Fiction and other critical works.
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The Turn of the Screw and The Aspern Papers
Two of James’ best-known novellas in one Penguin volume.
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The New York Stories of Henry James
This volume contains stories set in New York, including the short novel Washington Square.
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The Notebooks of Henry James, edited by F. O. Matthiessen and Kenneth B. Murdock
Henry didn’t keep a voluminous journal, as some authors did, but left behind some notebooks which are of interest. This is one edition of these notebooks, which is currently in print, but, curiously, a more “complete” edition of the notebooks is out of print. (See below.)
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The Complete Notebooks of Henry James, edited by Leon Edel and Lyall H. Powers
As above, though this one says “complete”. I’m not qualified to say which is better, but I’ve been told that this one – which I own – is indeed more complete. This is out of print, but used copies are widely available at low prices.
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Henry James on Culture: Collected Essays on Politics and the American Social Scene, edited by Pierre A. Walker
A selection of essays by James about various cultural and political subjects: British geopolitics, gender and the American scene, one “metaphyisical essay”, “Is there Life After Death”, and writings on World War I.
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Reference Works

A Henry James Encyclopedia by Robert L. Gale
One of the books without which I could not have attempted this project. While expensive, it is an essential book for Jamesophiles. With more than 3,000 entries on James’ works, his life, his friends, characters in the works, places he visited, and much more, this encyclopedia is the best non-narrative work about Henry’s life and works. This is a very expensive book (at the time of this writing, it lists for more than $200), but if you check the used book sites, you might find a copy for half that price or less. (I got lucky and found one in very good condition for $30 several years ago.)
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Fiction with Henry James as character

Author, Author, by David Lodge
One of two major novels (with The Master) released in 2004 featuring Henry James as protagonist. A brilliant work by an insightful novelist who understand Henry James.
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The Master, by Colm Toíbin
The second Henry James novel released in 2004. I didn’t care for this book very much, but I owe it to myself to read it again, because it was better received than Author, Author.
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Lions at Lamb House, by Edwin M. Yoder Jr.
An interesting novel whose premise is a possible meeting between Henry James and Sigmund Freud.
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Felony, by Emma Tennant
Taking The Aspern Papers as a starting point, this novel features Henry James and Constant Fenimore Woolson in Venice. Curious, but an intriguing read. Not released in the US.
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Critical Works

The Cambridge Companion to Henry James, by Jonathan Freedman
A collection of scholarly essays about James’ life and work. A mixed bag; some of it is trendy academe-babble, and some of it is interesting. Not an indispensable book.
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Reading Henry James, by Louis Auchincloss
A slim book which serves as a kind of reader’s guide to James’ fiction, and has a brief chapter on his life. Out of print. Read my book notes about this book.

Meaning in Henry James, by Millicent Bell
This book is described as follows: “…Bell relates James’s work to influential movements of the day, notably impressionism and naturalism. She examines the influence of Hawthorne, Emerson, Flaubert, Balzac, and Zola on James at various periods throughout his career. Drawing on rich traditions of criticism and on stimulating recent theories, Bell forges a critical approach both accessible and profound for this elegant reading of one of the greatest writers of this or any time.” It’s on my pile of books to be read. I plan to read the individual chapters after my reading of the works they refer to.
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Henry James’s New York Edition: The Construction of Authorship, edited by David McWhirter
A collection of essays about the New York Edition – Henry James’ choice of his favorite works, published near the end of his life – and James’ approach to selecting and editing these works.
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There are a large number of prohibitively expensive, publish-or-perish, ivory tower books examining Jamesian minutia, most of which are totally uninteresting to those not in academe. I don’t plan to mention any such books here, assuming that any readers of this blog who are interested in such books will know where and how to find them. I will, however, list any that I have found interesting, and that may interest common readers like me. If you have any recommendations, or wish to have your book listed in this bibliography, feel free to contact me.