Synopses & Reviews
Toward the end of Henry James's career, Charles Scribner's Sons offered him the opportunity to publish his collected works in a single edition under the overall title The New York Edition of the Novels and Tales of Henry James (1907-1909). Rather than simply reprint his fictional oeuvre, James entered into a massive work of self-monumentalization: revising the texts extensively; writing prefaces that have become classic texts on prose aesthetics and the novelist's art; and omitting many works, among them some major novels. The thirty illustrations include all twenty-four frontispiece photographs made, under James's supervision, for the edition.
Synopsis
Toward the end of Henry James's career, Charles Scribner's Sons offered him the opportunity to publish his collected works in a single edition under the overall title The New York Edition of the Novels and Tales of Henry James (1907-9). Rather than simply reprint his fictional oeuvre, James entered into a massive work of self-monumentalization: revising the texts extensively; writing prefaces that have become classic texts on prose aesthetics and the novelist's art; omitting many works, among them some major novels; and breaking with his long-standing opposition to textual illustration by commissioning photographic frontispieces for each of the Edition's twenty-four volumes. The New York Edition has long served as a cornerstone in the myth of "The Master". Yet despite the considerable critical attention devoted to James's celebrated prefaces and his revisions of his earlier work, the Edition itself has remained curiously unread. This book constitutes the first comprehensive effort to apprehend the full complexity of James's self-performance - his often ambivalent construction of self, authorship, and authority - in the New York Edition. Removing the aura of sanctity that has grown up around James and his self-proclaimed "monument", the essays gathered here, most of them published for the first time, provide a surprisingly new portrait of James, and a significant challenge to traditional conceptions of literary authority.
Synopsis
Toward the end of James's career, Charles Scribner's Sons offered to publish his collected work under the overall title The New York Edition of the Novels and Tales of Henry James. This book is the first comprehensive effort to apprehend the full complexity of James's self-performance there.
Synopsis
“McWhirters collection of essays takes on the long-awaited task of situating the 24-volume New York edition and its author within a cultural/historical framework. . . . Easily establishes itself as a must for Jamesians and a valuable read for anyone concerned with narrative theory and/or the history of the novel.”—Novel
Synopsis
Provides perspectives on The New York Edition of the Novels and Tales of Henry James.
Synopsis
An exploration of The New York Edition of the Novels and Tales of Henry James, from a wide range of theoretical and methodological perspectives. This collection reveals much about Henry James and the process of the construction of authorship.
Synopsis
Toward the end of Henry James's career, he was offered the opportunity to publish his collected work in a single edition - The New York Edition of the Novels and Tales of Henry James. James entered into a massive work of self-monumentalization, revising the texts, writing prefaces and commissioning photographic frontispieces. This book explores the Edition from a wide range of perspectives, focusing on the Edition's complex array of textual features, its critical and public reception, and on the biographical, social, and publishing contexts in which it was produced.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [281]-320) and index.
About the Author
David McWhirter is Associate Professor of English at Texas A & M University.