The Complete Writings of Henry James on Art and Drama: Volume 1, Art

Description

Henry James records in his autobiography a transformative childhood experience in the Louvre when he foresaw the 'fun' that art might bring him. Many of his novels and stories indeed go on to dramatise the circumstances of the artist's life, and their allusions to art are extensive. This complete collection of essays and reviews presents the observations of a major author whose critical judgments have become central to an understanding of late-nineteenth-century art. Readers will find James's texts as they first appeared, with a wealth of editorial support, which captures the mood and values of the art scene in Britain, France and America - its interesting minor figures, as well as names still familiar. Many of these items are difficult to access and have not previously been available in a scholarly edition. The editorial apparatus includes a general introduction, a chronology, a textual variants section, and a biographical guide to artists.

Peter Collister is the author of Writing the Self: Henry James and America (2007), and the editor of Henry James's A Small Boy and Others (2011) and Notes of a Son and Brother and The Middle Years (2011). He has published a wide range of essays on nineteenth-century English writers and Anglo-French literary links in refereed British, European and American journals.

'Collister's thoughtful and thorough editions bring that intelligence back into focus, and remind us again that James' fiction is grounded in a deep understanding of human culture in all its forms.' Hazel Hutchison, Modern Language Review