Complete Letters of Henry James, 1883–1884

Henry James (1843–1916) was an American author and literary critic. He wrote some two dozen novels, including Portrait of a Lady and The Golden Bowl, and left behind more than ten thousand letters.Michael Anesko is a professor of English and American studies at The Pennsylvania State University. He is a general editor of The Cambridge Edition of the Complete Fiction of Henry James and the author, most recently, of Generous Mistakes: Incidents of Error in Henry James.Greg W. Zacharias is a professor of English and the director of the Center for Henry James Studies at Creighton University. He is the editor of A Companion to Henry James and the coeditor of Tracing Henry James.Katie Sommer has been an associate editor of the Complete Letters of Henry James series since 2007 and has worked on the Henry James letters project since 2001.Kathleen Lawrence is an editor for The Complete Fiction of Henry James.

Praise for earlier volumes in The Complete Letters of Henry James series: ""Rippling through these letters are the first imaginative stirrings of one of the greatest fiction and travel writers in the language. [James] was also one of the most entertaining—and prolific—correspondents. . . . These are richly enthralling letters."" - Peter Kemp, Sunday Times (London) ""This latest volume of the Complete Letters represents, no less than its forebears, an inestimable contribution to readers hitherto obliged to hunt down James’s letters in various selections or scattered archives, and deserves to be greeted with the same jubilant chorus of praise and gratitude."" - Alicia Rix, Times Literary Supplement ""This edition is not just notable for its astonishing ambition, however; even at this early stage, it must also be reckoned a signal achievement. By every measure, the volumes we have so far are simply outstanding in every major respect. . . . The result is an embarrassment of critical and biographical riches."" - Bruce Bawer, New Criterion

• The Complete Letters of Henry James, 1883-1884, volume 1, contains 173 letters, of which 115 are published for the first time. Each letter is followed by previous publication information or a note that there is no previous publication.AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Restless Ambition; A Cosmopolite Author at the Height of His Powers, by Kathleen LawrenceSymbols and AbbreviationsChronologyErrata1883January 2To Florence Bayard LockwoodJanuary 3To James Ripley Osgood[January 4-April 5]To Isabella Stewart Gardner[January 5-April 6]To Isabella Stewart Gardner[January 5-March 31]To Lillian June Bailey Henschel[January 7-April 1]To Thomas Bailey AldrichJanuary 8To William James[January 11]To Isabella Stewart GardnerJanuary 11To Robertson JamesJanuary 11To William JamesJanuary 12To Thomas Bailey Aldrich[January 14]To Thomas Bailey AldrichJanuary 23To William JamesJanuary 25To William JamesJanuary 26To Helena de Kay GilderJanuary 27To James Stoddart BainJanuary 27To Frederick Macmillan[January 29]To Thomas Sergeant Perry[c. January 30]To Thomas Sergeant PerryFebruary 1To Frances “Fanny” Anne KembleFebruary 5To Thomas Bailey AldrichFebruary 5To Mary Elizabeth “Lilian” Woodman AldrichFebruary 5To Caroline DallFebruary 5To John Milton HayFebruary 5To William JamesFebruary 5To Frederick MacmillanFebruary 7To William JamesFebruary 11To William JamesFebruary 12To Louisa Lawrence[February 12-June 11]To Grace Norton[February 18-August 12]To Grace NortonFebruary 21To George Washburn SmalleyFebruary 21To John Wilson and SonFebruary 23To Thomas Sergeant PerryFebruary 27To Thomas Sergeant PerryFebruary 28To Marian “Clover” Hooper AdamsMarch 2To Houghton, Mifflin and CompanyMarch 5To Rhoda BroughtonMarch 5To UnknownMarch 7To Henry C. AhlbornMarch 13To Richard Watson GilderMarch 15To Sir George HenschelMarch 18To Richard Watson GilderMarch 20To William Dean HowellsMarch 27To Elizabeth BoottMarch 29To Frederick MacmillanMarch 30To Alice Stopford GreenApril 2To Edmund GosseApril 8To Thomas Bailey AldrichApril 8To James Ripley OsgoodApril 12To Francis Boott[April 15]To Grace NortonApril 17To George Du MaurierApril 18To Julia Colt Pierson EmmetApril 19To Frederick MacmillanApril 19To James Ripley OsgoodApril 22To Thomas Bailey AldrichApril 26To Charles Hamilton AïdéApril 26To Grace NortonMay 2To Robertson JamesMay 2To Houghton, Mifflin and CompanyMay 2To Grace NortonMay 2To Thomas Sergeant PerryMay 4To Lillian June Bailey HenschelMay 5To James Ripley OsgoodMay 5To James Ripley Osgood[May 7-July 9]To Thomas Bailey AldrichMay 8To Frederick MacmillanMay 9To Emma LazarusMay [13]To Emma Lazarus[May 17 or 24]To Grace NortonMay 17To James Ripley Osgood[May 20 or 27]To Grace NortonMay 22To James Ripley Osgood[c. May 23 or June 6, 13, 20, 1883]To Grace NortonMay 24To John Milton HayMay 24To Grace Norton[May 25]To Grace NortonMay 29To Grace NortonJune 1To Grace NortonJune 4To Robertson JamesJune 7To Louisa LawrenceJune 9To Elizabeth Palmer PeabodyJune 10To Charles Hamilton AïdéJune 11To Frederick MacmillanJune 15To Annie Adams FieldsJune 15To George Abbot JamesJune 16To Houghton, Mifflin and CompanyJune 16To Louisa LawrenceJune 16To Christina Stewart RogersonJune 16To Hannah de Rothschild Primrose, Lady RoseberyJune 16To Ellen Twisleton Parkman Vaughan June 18To Sir John Forbes ClarkJune 20To Robertson JamesJune 23To George PellewJune 24To Caroline Sturgis TappanJune 26To Thomas Bailey AldrichJune 27To Henrietta ReubellJune 28To Sarah Wyman WhitmanJuly 8To Thomas Sergeant PerryJuly 10To Sir John Forbes ClarkJuly 10To George Abbot JamesJuly 10To Benjamin Holt Ticknor[July 14]To George Abbot James[July 14]To Grace NortonJuly 18To Thomas Bailey AldrichJuly 21To Thomas Bailey AldrichJuly 22To Thomas Bailey AldrichJuly 22To Whitelaw ReidJuly 26To Francis BoottJuly 26To George Abbot JamesJuly 27To Whitelaw ReidJuly 28To Grace NortonAugust 8To Grace NortonAugust 8To Whitelaw ReidAugust 10To Thomas Sergeant PerryAugust 16To Mary Cadwalader JonesAugust 17To William JamesAugust 18To John Milton HayAugust 19To Grace NortonAugust 21To Sarah Wyman Whitman[after September 1]To Lady Louisa Erskine WolseleySeptember 2To Emma LazarusSeptember 5To Elizabeth Thompson[September 5, 1883-March 3, 1886]To Alice Stopford GreenSeptember 6To Sir John Forbes ClarkSeptember 10To Charles Eliot NortonSeptember 10To Benjamin Holt TicknorSeptember 15To Thomas Bailey AldrichSeptember 20To Thomas Bailey AldrichOctober 1To Theodore E. ChildOctober 10To Theodore E. ChildOctober 10To Sir John Forbes ClarkOctober 10To William JamesOctober 11To Thomas Bailey AldrichOctober 13To Henrietta ReubellOctober 14To Elizabeth BoottOctober 14To Alice Stopford GreenOctober 15To John Eliot BowenOctober 19To Maurice Crawford MacmillanOctober 24To Walter Herries PollockOctober 24To Christina Stewart RogersonOctober 25To William JamesOctober 27To Louisa LawrenceOctober 29To Grace NortonOctober 31To James Ripley OsgoodNovember 2To Frederick MacmillanNovember 6To James Ripley OsgoodNovember 7To Edmund GosseNovember 8To Ellen “Nellie” Epps GosseNovember 14To Thomas Bailey AldrichNovember 14To Grace NortonNovember 24To William JamesNovember 25To Thomas Sergeant PerryDecember 2To Robertson JamesDecember 3To Virginia Clark WaringDecember 8To Lady Louisa Erskine WolseleyDecember 11To Elizabeth BoottDecember 11To Grace NortonDecember 11To Dr. James John Garth WilkinsonDecember 12, [1883 or 1885]To Lady Louisa Erskine WolseleyDecember 12, [1883 or 1885]To Lady Louisa Erskine WolseleyDecember 13To Circe[15 December 1883]To Dr. James John Garth WilkinsonDecember 17To Alice Stopford GreenDecember 26To Editors of the GalaxyDecember 26To Edmund Gosse1884January [1-29]To Mary Augusta Arnold WardJanuary 6To Mary Morton Hartpence SandsJanuary 7To Alice Stopford GreenJanuary 15To Lady Louisa Erskine WolseleyJanuary 16To Juliet Creed, Lady PollockJanuary 16To William Ralston Shedden-RalstonJanuary 19To Grace NortonJanuary 24To Mary Morton Hartpence SandsJanuary 25To William JamesJanuary 29To Frederick MacmillanBiographical RegisterGeneral Editors’ NoteWorks CitedIndex