The Portable Henry James

Henry James (1843-1916), born in New York City, was the son of noted religious philosopher Henry James, Sr., and brother of eminent psychologist and philosopher William James. He spent his early life in America and studied in Geneva, London, and Paris during his adolescence. He lived in Newport, briefly attended Harvard Law School, and in 1864 began contributing criticism and tales to magazines.

In 1869 and again in 1872-74, he visited Europe and began his first novel, Roderick Hudson. Late in 1875 he settled in Paris, where he met Turgenev, Flaubert, and Zola, and wrote The American (1877). In December 1876 he moved to London, achieving international fame two years later with Daisy Miller. Other famous works include Washington Square (1880), The Portrait of a Lady (1881), The Princess Casamassima (1886), The Aspern Papers (1888), The Turn of the Screw (1898), and three large novels of the new century: The Wings of the Dove (1902), The Ambassadors (1903), and The Golden Bowl (1904). In 1905 he revisited the United States and wrote The American Scene (1907).

During his career, he also authored many works of criticism and travel. Though old and ailing, he dedicated himself to war work in 1914. In 1915, a few months before his death, he became a British subject. In 1916, King George V conferred the Order of Merit upon him. He died in London in February 1916.

John Auchard is a professor of English at the University of Maryland at College Park and the editor of The Portable Henry James.

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