The American Scene

by Henry James

Overview

The American Scene - Henry James - The American Scene is a book of travel writing by Henry James about his trip through the United States in 1904-1905. Ten of the fourteen chapters of the book were published in the North American Review, Harper's and the Fortnightly Review in 1905 and 1906.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783986478254
Publisher:	Phoemixx Classics Ebooks
Publication date:	09/11/2021
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	477
File size:	987 KB

About the Author

Henry James, OM, son of theologian Henry James Sr., brother of the philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James, was an American-born author, one of the founders and leaders of a school of realism in fiction. He spent much of his life in England and became a British subject shortly before his death. He is primarily known for a series of major novels in which he portrayed the encounter of America with Europe. His plots centered on personal relationships, the proper exercise of power in such relationships, and other moral questions. His method of writing from the point of view of a character within a tale allowed him to explore the phenomena of consciousness and perception, and his style in later works has been compared to impressionist painting.James insisted that writers in Great Britain and America should be allowed the greatest freedom possible in presenting their view of the world, as French authors were. His imaginative use of point of view, interior monologue and unreliable narrators in his own novels and tales brought a new depth and interest to realistic fiction, and foreshadowed the modernist work of the twentieth century. An extraordinarily productive writer, in addition to his voluminous works of fiction he published articles and books of travel writing, biography, autobiography, and criticism,and wrote plays, some of which were performed during his lifetime with moderate success. His theatrical work is thought to have profoundly influenced his later novels and tales.

Date of Birth:

April 15, 1843

Date of Death:

February 28, 1916

Place of Birth:

New York, New York

Place of Death:

London, England

Education:

Attended school in France and Switzerland; Harvard Law School, 1862-63

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments; A note on this edition; Chronology: Henry James' life and writings; James' American itinerary; List of abbreviations; Editor's introduction; The American Scene; Glossary of foreign words and phrases; Notes on textual variants; Appendices; Select bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

**** Reprint of the Harper & Bros. edition of 1907 (cited in BCL3). Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

‘… Collister’s The American Scene is furnished with abundant resources in terms of its critical apparatus and annotations, far outstripping those included in previous editions of the text. These do rigorous work historicising James’ text, linking the incidents of the travelogue to the events of James’ own journey, offering insight into the relationship between life and art … Of added interest to [the] scholarly community … will be Collister’s collations of variants on the basis of the galley proofs for the chapter on ‘New England’, held today at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale … Collister’s introduction is masterful and authoritative, and very useful is his inclusion of an itinerary of James’ American journey, as are his appendices … Collister’s The American Scene is an excellent edition, which will hopefully provide the text with a new readership.’ Giles Whiteley, Notes and Queries

‘The editor, Peter Collister, an expert on the late James, has done a fine job … Collister’s The American Scene is furnished with abundant resources in terms of its critical apparatus and annotations, far outstripping those included in previous editions of the text. These do rigorous work historicising James’ text, linking the incidents of the travelogue to the events of James’ own journey, offering insight into the relationship between life and art … Collister’s introduction is masterful and authoritative, and very useful is his inclusion of an itinerary of James’ American journey, as are his appendices … [This] is an excellent edition, which will hopefully provide the text with a new readership.’ Giles Whiteley, Notes and Queries

‘This edition represents a daunting amount of work, and is full of things to be grateful for in coming to terms with this difficult, self-reflexive, controversial book …the core of valuable research here is a serious achievement.’ TLS

‘… this publication abundantly displays the kind of comprehensiveness that we have come to expect from Collister’s work.’ Michael Anesko, The Henry James Review

'Peter Collister's new edition of The American Scene is an indispensable guide to this experimental narrative.' Sarah B. Daugherty, American Literary Scholarship

From the Publisher