Henry James, Jr.

Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

Word count: 22K words
Chapters: 3

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Henry James, Jr. by William Dean HowellsAuthor: Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Nov 1, 1996

Editor's review

This critical biography by William Dean Howells is an early window into the young Henry James. Howells was both a contemporary of James and an important witness to his literary path, so the text offers an eyewitness perspective rather than secondhand material recounted by later generations. It is short, written in the tradition of nineteenth-century English prose, with unhurried sentences and carefully chosen diction, and is best read as a supplementary source for studying the background of James's early work. It is not a complete biography, nor does it systematically analyze the works; its value lies more in historical material and literary interest: readers can sense the expectations and standards of evaluation that the nineteenth-century American literary circle brought to a promising new novelist. It should be read alongside James's own early works or letters to appreciate both the weight and the limits of the critical biography.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary scholars studying Henry James's life and the beginnings of his writing career
English-language readers interested in the style of nineteenth-century American literary criticism
Readers who want to understand James's early image through the eyes of a contemporary

Not a good fit for

General readers hoping for a complete biography of Henry James
Readers with limited English reading experience who prefer a modern, plain style

Reading tips

First get an overview of Henry James's early novels, then read this text to compare with the critical biography's views
Read the evaluations in the text against James's later works to observe changes in his creative trajectory
Pay attention to Howells's measured wording and appreciate the rhetorical habits of nineteenth-century literary criticism

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this critical biography a complete biography of Henry James?

No. It is limited in length and focuses mainly on James's early literary beginnings, offering impressionistic evaluations by a contemporary; it cannot replace a systematic biography and is better suited as supplementary material for research or casual reading.

What English proficiency is needed to read this text?

The original is nineteenth-century English prose, with long sentences and rather elegant diction, so a good command of English is recommended; if you only want the gist, you can read it with annotations or alongside a translation.

Why is it worth reading a critical biography written by a contemporary?

Contemporary authors had firsthand observations and can convey the real standards of evaluation and expectations of the literary circle at the time. Such texts have historical value and also let readers see an alternative voice from before later settled judgments took shape.

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About the author

Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920 Author

William Dean Howells (1837–1920) was an American author and literary editor, with 107 works held in the collection. His writing spans novels, travel books, memoirs, and literary essays, and his representative works include My Mark Twain, Indian Summer, A Boy's Town, A Modern Instance, and A Hazard of New Fortunes. Howells drew on close observation of everyday life, writing in a plain style with gentle irony and attending to moral questions and human situations amid social change; his travel book Venetian Life and his memoir Literary Friends and Acquaintance record his journeys and personal recollections of American literary figures. Public information is limited, so biographical details are not elaborated here; readers may turn to the works above to learn about his subjects and style.