Acquisitions (113): The Turn of the Screw

A. N. Wilson: A Jealous Ghost (2005)

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Andrew Norman Wilson (1950- )

A. N. Wilson: A Jealous Ghost (2005)
[Gift from Tracey Slaughter, Franklin, Hamilton - 23/5/24]:

A. N. Wilson. A Jealous Ghost. 2005. Arrow Books. London: The Random House Group, 2006.

Henry James: The Turn of the Screw (Collier's Weekly, January 27 – April 16, 1898))

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Three More Turns of the Screw

What is it with Henry James's Turn of the Screw? Ever since it was first published in 1898 it's been causing controversy. More than that, people have insisted on rewriting, recasting, redefining it ...

Henry James: The Turn of the Screw (Annotated). Ed. David Knight (2021)

I've sometimes thought that this plethora of responses, good and bad, would make The Turn of the Screw the ideal subject for a Norton Annotated Edition. I see, however, that this idea has been anticipated by the recently published version above.

Mind you, readers already had access to the Norton Critical Edition pictured below - now available in thoroughly revised and expanded second (1999) and third (2020) editions.

Henry James: The Turn of the Screw: Norton Critical Edition. Ed. Robert Kimbrough (1966)

I've written a certain amount on the subject myself, most notably in a series of blogposts contrasting the ghostly fiction of the "two Jameses", Henry and M. R. James. At that point, however, the most recent re-interpretation of the story I'd run across - leaving to one side the numerous dramatic and cinematic adaptations of the plot I listed there - was Guido Crepax's 1989 graphic novel:

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Guido Crepax: The Turn of the Screw (1989)

Here's a knotty question for you: What does the title of James's novella actually mean? On one level, the answer is quite obvious. His main story-teller, Douglas, prefaces his narrative thus:

“I quite agree — in regard to Griffin’s ghost ... — that its appearing first to the little boy, at so tender an age, adds a particular touch. But it’s not the first occurrence of its charming kind that I know to have involved a child. If the child gives the effect another turn of the screw, what do you say to two children — ?”
“We say, of course,” somebody exclaimed, “that they give two turns! Also that we want to hear about them.”

So there you are: two children - two turns of the screw.

Some (most notably Edmund Wilson, in his 1938 essay "The Ambiguity of Henry James") would say that the third turn of the screw in James's story is the unnamed governess's own hysterical repression, which causes her to fantasize ghosts and to project her own delusions onto two innocent children.

Crepax's governess, as you can guess from the blurb illustrations below, is anything but repressed. She is, in effect, another version of his Anita or Valentina, a fantasy object designed to allure us by her endless teetering on the brink of final surrender to temptation.

I don't know if he had the obvious 'turn of the screw' pun in mind: Giro di vite in Italian doesn't have quite the same implications. One online bookseller puts it more simply: "Crepax adds all kinds of sex and nudity to Henry James' short story."

Is there any more to it than that? The 1920s bobs and flapper outfits add an interesting level of style realignment to the tale. Beyond that, though, all I can say is it doesn't seem to me to break new ground, the way that his far more disturbing adaptations of The Story of O (1975) or Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1987) do.

Guido Crepax: The Turn of the Screw (1989)

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A. N. Wilson: A Jealous Ghost (2005)

More recently I've been reading A. N. Wilson's Henry James-inspired short novel A Jealous Ghost (2005). Not being very well acquainted with his work in general (though I have read a couple of his biographies), I'm not really sure how typical it is of his approach to fiction.

In his Guardian review "Another Screw on the Loose", Jason Cowley very ably states the case for the prosecution:

Philosopher William James once wrote of how meaning in his brother's less than innocent fictional prose 'was ingeniously formed by mirrors upon empty space'. In a curious sense, Wilson's prose, by contrast, is too innocent. He does not withhold enough, notably revealing Sallie's guilty secret far too early in the book. Everything is transparent. One sees too clearly in the mirrors of his prose, when what one really wants is opacity and more complexity. And what does one see? Too much empty space.

Sallie does seem mostly designed to embody a lot of Wilson's snobbish English prejudices about American grad students: on-the-make but under-read; brash and needy but completely self-centred; weirdly repressed but also disposed to sudden, maniacal violence ... Talk about fear of the Other!

There are some clever turns in Wilson's updated version of James's classic tale, but they don't really surprise and appal us the way I imagine they're meant to. Sallie is too wooden a character to bear the burden he's put on her - and the other members of his cast barely even aspire to woodenness: they're just names on a page.

"Why does he persist in writing fiction at all?" inquires Cowley:

The short answer is, I guess, that he has to, that ideas still come to him in a form that can be only expressed in fiction.

I don't know if A Jealous Ghost can be really be said to express much in the way of ideas, but one thing's for certain: it certainly embodies a lot of rage.

Just as Henry James, in the 1890s, was haunted by myriad fears - personal, professional, and everything in-between - so Wilson's loathing and contempt for the murderous Sallie is only one item in the smorgasbord of objects of wrath he serves up to us: the addict mother, the absentee father, the hateful housekeeper, the repulsive young boy ... it's enough to make you want to polish them all off.

Wilson, however, contents himself with the one comparatively pleasant member of his cast: an innocent young girl.

Antonio Olmos: A. N. Wilson (2018)

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Mike Flanagan: The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020)

But then, I'd argue that Mike Flanagan's TV miniseries The Haunting of Bly Manor constitutes an even more egregious assault on the underlying subtleties of The Turn of the Screw - the reason we keep on reading it after all these years. Bly Manor started off quite well, and I had hopes that it might be an improvement on his misogynist parody of Shirley Jackson's great novel The Haunting of Hill House.

Mike Flanagan: The Haunting of Hill House (2018)

Alas, it was not to be. After the first episode Flanagan started to crank out his usual battery of only-too-tangible haunts, along with increasingly absurd origin stories for the ghosts, until it eventually turned into the same old schlock soup. Poor old Henry James! His grave must be stuck on permanent rotate at such times.

Mike Flanagan: The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)

All I can say is that Flanagan's version of Poe's Fall of the House of Usher was even worse. Does he even read the stories he contorts in these screen adaptations? In retrospect, James might be said to have got off more lightly than either Jackson or Poe as he has so much less to lose. Simply through its mode of narration, his story continues to baffle and provoke, whereas theirs are more rooted in the innovations they hoped to introduce to the classic haunted house narrative: innovations Flanagan hardly seems to notice, let alone try to reproduce.

Henry James: The Real Thing (1892)

So why not just stick to the "real thing" (in James's own phrase)? You may well ask. I do think that revisiting an author's work in other media can, at times, offer enlightening sidelights on it, though. Take, for example, the shining example Jason Cowley offers in his review of Wilson:

Alejandro Amenábar's marvellous The Others (2001), which starred Nicole Kidman in perhaps her greatest role, as a young neurotic mother who lives alone with her two small children in a large house on an isolated estate on Jersey during the war.

There are many echoes, but few actual borrowings in this film, yet it nevertheless seems to embody the spirit of James's story far better than almost all of the more direct versions (with the possible exception of Benjamin Britten's opera).

I still don't despair of the idea of a good, James-inspired ghost story for the contemporary digital world. All I can say is that none of the three above - for all their various merits, and the undoubted passion and commitment of their authors - could be said to be it. As yet. Any takers?

Alejandro Amenábar, dir.: The Others (2001)

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John Singer Sargent: Henry James (1913)

Henry James
(1843-1916)

Books I own are marked in bold:

Collected Editions:


1. The Novels and Tales of Henry James. Photogravure frontispieces by Alvin Langdon Coburn. New York Edition. 26 volumes (1907–1909; 1917) [NYE 1-26]
   1. Roderick Hudson
   2. The American
   3. The Portrait of a Lady I
   4. The Portrait of a Lady II
   5. The Princess Casamassima I
   6. The Princess Casamassima II
   7. The Tragic Muse I
   8. The Tragic Muse II
   9. The Awkward Age
   10. The Spoils of Poynton, A London Life, The Chaperon
   11. What Maisie Knew, In the Cage, The Pupil
   12. The Aspern Papers, The Turn of the Screw, The Liar, The Two Faces
   13. The Reverberator, Madame de Mauves, A Passionate Pilgrim, The Madonna of the Future, Louisa Pallant
   14. Lady Barberina, The Siege of London, An International Episode, The Pension Beaurepas, A Bundle of Letters, The Point of View
   15. The Lesson of the Master, The Death of the Lion, The Next Time, The Figure in the Carpet, The Coxon Fund
   16. The Author of Beltraffio, The Middle Years, Greville Fane, Broken Wings, The Tree of Knowledge, The Abasement of the Northmores, The Great Good Place, Four Meetings, Paste, Europe, Miss Gunton of Poughkeepsie, Fordham Castle
   17. The Altar of the Dead, The Beast in the Jungle, The Birthplace, The Private Life, Owen Wingrave, The Friends of the Friends, Sir Edmund Orme, The Real Right Thing, The Jolly Corner, Julia Bride
   18. Daisy Miller, Pandora, The Patagonia, The Marriages, The Real Thing, Brooksmith, The Beldonald Holbein, The Story In It, Flickerbridge, Mrs. Medwin
   19. The Wings of the Dove I
   20. The Wings of the Dove II
   21. The Ambassadors I
   22. The Ambassadors II
   23. The Golden Bowl I
   24. The Golden Bowl II
   25. The Ivory Tower (1917)
   26. The Sense of the Past (1917)


2. The Complete Tales of Henry James. Ed. Leon Edel. 12 vols. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1962-64. [LE 1-12]
   1. 1864-1868 (1962)
      • The Complete Tales of Henry James. Volume 1: 1864-1868 (1962)
   2. 1868-1872 (1962)
      • The Complete Tales of Henry James. Volume 2: 1868-1872 (1962)
   3. 1873-1875 (1962)
      • The Complete Tales of Henry James. Volume 3: 1873-1875 (1962)
   4. 1876-1882 (1962)
      • The Complete Tales of Henry James. Volume 4: 1876-1882 (1962)
   5. 1883-1884 (1963)
      • The Complete Tales of Henry James. Volume 5: 1883-1884 (1963)
   6. 1884-1888 (1963)
      • The Complete Tales of Henry James. Volume 6: 1884-1888 (1963)
   7. 1888-1891 (1963)
      • The Complete Tales of Henry James. Volume 7: 1888-1891 (1963)
   8. 1891-1892 (1963)
      • The Complete Tales of Henry James. Volume 8: 1891-1892 (1963)
   9. 1892-1898 (1964)
      • The Complete Tales of Henry James. Volume 9: 1892-1898 (1964)
   10. 1898-1899 (1964)
       • The Complete Tales of Henry James. Volume 10: 1898-1899 (1964)
   11. 1900-1903 (1964)
       • The Complete Tales of Henry James. Volume 11: 1900-1903 (1964)
   12. 1903-1910 (1964)
       • The Complete Tales of Henry James. Volume 12: 1903-1910 (1964)


3. The Tales of Henry James. Ed. Maqbool Aziz. 3 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973-84. [Aziz 1-3]
   1. 1864-1869 (1973)
      • The Tales of Henry James. Volume One, 1864-1869. Ed. Maqbool Aziz. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973.
   2. 1870-1874 (1978)
   3. 1875-1879 (1984)


4. The Library of America Henry James:
   1. Complete Novels. The Library of America. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1983-2011.
      1. Novels 1871-1880. Ed. William T. Stafford. The Library of America, 13 (1983)
         • Novels 1871-1880: Watch and Ward / Roderick Hudson / The American / The Europeans / Confidence. 1871, 1875, 1877, 1878 & 1879. Ed. William T. Stafford. The Library of America, 13. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1983.
      2. Novels 1881-1886. Ed. William T. Stafford. The Library of America, 29 (1985)
         • Novels 1881-1886: Washington Square / The Portrait of a Lady / The Bostonians. 1880, 1881 & 1886. Ed. William T. Stafford. The Library of America, 29. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1985.
      3. Novels 1886-1890. Ed. Daniel Mark Fogel. The Library of America, 43 (1989)
         • Novels 1886-1890: The Princess Casamassima / The Reverberator / The Tragic Muse. 1886, 1888 & 1890. Ed. Daniel Mark Fogel. The Library of America, 43. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1989.
      4. Novels 1896-1899. Ed. Myra Jehlen. The Library of America, 139 (2003)
         • Novels 1896-1899: The Other House / The Spoils of Poynton / What Maisie Knew / The Awkward Age. 1896, 1897, 1897 & 1899. Ed. Myra Jehlen. The Library of America, 139. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 2003.
      5. Novels 1901-1902. Ed. Leo Bersani. The Library of America, 162 (2006)
         • Novels 1901-1902: The Sacred Fount / The Wings of the Dove. 1901 & 1902. Ed. Leo Bersani. The Library of America, 162. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 2006.
      6. Novels 1903-1911. Ed. Ross Posnock. The Library of America, 215 (2011)
         • Novels 1903-1911: The Ambassadors / The Golden Bowl / The Outcry / Appendix: “The Married Son.” 1903, 1904, 1911 & 1908. Ed. Ross Posnock. The Library of America, 215. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 2011.
   2. Literary Criticism. Ed. Leon Edel & Mark Wilson. The Library of America, 22-23 (1984)
      1. Essays on Literature; American Writers; English Writers
         • Literary Criticism: Essays on Literature; American Writers; English Writers. Ed. Leon Edel & Mark Wilson. The Library of America, 22. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1984.
      2. French Writers; Other European Writers; The Prefaces to the New York Edition
         • Literary Criticism: French Writers; Other European Writers; The Prefaces to the New York Edition. Ed. Leon Edel & Mark Wilson. The Library of America, 23. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1984.
   3. Collected Travel Writings. Ed. Richard Howard. The Library of America, 64-65 (1993)
      1. Great Britain and America: English Hours; the American Scene
         • Collected Travel Writings. Great Britain and America: English Hours; the American Scene; Other Travels. Ed. Richard Howard. The Library of America, 64. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1993.
      2. The Continent: A Little Tour in France; Italian Hours
         • Collected Travel Writings. The Continent: A Little Tour in France; Italian Hours; Other Travels. Ed. Richard Howard. The Library of America, 65. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1993.
   4. Complete Stories. The Library of America. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1996-1999. [LoA 1-5]
      1. 1864-1874. Ed. Jean Strouse. The Library of America, 111 (1999)
         • Complete Stories, Volume 1: 1864-1874. Ed. Jean Strouse. The Library of America, 111. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1999.
      2. 1874-1884. Ed. William L. Vance. The Library of America, 106 (1999)
         • Complete Stories, Volume 2: 1874-1884. Ed. William L. Vance. The Library of America, 106. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1999.
      3. 1884-1891. Ed. Edward Said. The Library of America, 107 (1999)
         • Complete Stories, Volume 3: 1884-1891. Ed. Edward Said. The Library of America, 107. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1999.
      4. 1892-1898. Ed. David Bromwich and John Hollander (1996)
         • Complete Stories, Volume 4: 1892-1898. Ed. David Bromwich and John Hollander. The Library of America, 82. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1996.
      5. 1898-1910. Ed. Denis Donoghue. The Library of America, 83 (1996)
         • Complete Stories, Volume 5: 1898-1910. Ed. Denis Donoghue. The Library of America, 83. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1996.
   5. Autobiographies. Ed. Philip Horne. The Library of America, 274 (2016)
      • Autobiographies: A Small Boy and Others / Notes of a Son and Brother / The Middle Years / Other Writings. 1913, 1914, 1917. Ed. Philip Horne. The Library of America, 274. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 2016.

Novels:


5. Watch and Ward (1871)
   • Watch and Ward. 1871 & 1878. Introduction by Leon Edel. 1959. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1960.
6. Roderick Hudson (1875) [NYE 1]
7. The American (1877) [NYE 2]
   • The American: The Version of 1877 Revised in Autograph and Typescript for the New York Edition of 1907. Reproduced in Facsimile from the Original in the Houghton Library, Harvard University. Introduction by Rodney G. Dennis. Houghton Library Manuscript Facsimiles, 1. 1976. London: Scolar Press, 1978.
8. The Europeans (1878)
9. Confidence (1879)
10. Washington Square (1880)
11. The Portrait of a Lady (1881) [NYE 3-4]
    • The Portrait of a Lady: An Authoritative Text / Henry James and the Novel / Reviews and Criticism. 1881. Ed. Robert D. Bamberg. A Norton Critical Edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1975.
    • The Portrait of a Lady. 1881. Ed. Geoffrey Moore. 1984. Notes by Patricia Crick. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2003.
12. The Bostonians (1886)
13. The Princess Casamassima (1886) [NYE 5-6]
    • The Princess Casamassima. 1886. London: Heron Books / Macmillan & Co., n.d.
14. The Reverberator (1888) [NYE 13]
    • A London Life and The Reverberator. 1888 & 1908. Ed. Philip Horne. The World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.
15. The Tragic Muse (1890) [NYE 7-8]
    • The Tragic Muse. 1890. Penguin Modern Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1978.
16. The Other House (1896)
    • The Other House. 1896. Introduction by Leon Edel. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1948.
17. The Spoils of Poynton (1897) [NYE 10]
    • The Spoils of Poynton. 1897. Penguin Modern Classics, 1922. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1963.
18. What Maisie Knew (1897) [NYE 11]
    • What Maisie Knew. 1897 & 1908. Ed. Douglas Jefferson & Douglas Grant. 1966. The World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980.
19. The Awkward Age (1899) [NYE 9]
    • The Awkward Age. 1899. With the Author’s Preface. New York Edition, 1908. Penguin Modern Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1981.
20. The Sacred Fount (1901)
    • The Sacred Fount. 1901. With an Introductory Essay by Leon Edel. 1953. A Black Cat Book. New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1979.
21. The Wings of the Dove (1902) [NYE 19-20]
    • The Wings of the Dove: An Authoritative Text / The Author and the Novel / Criticism. 1902 & 1909. Ed. J. Donald Crowley & Richard A. Hocks. A Norton Critical Edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1978.
22. The Ambassadors (1903) [NYE 21-22]
    • The Ambassadors: An Authoritative Text / The Author on the Novel / Criticism. 1903. Ed. S. P. Rosenbaum. A Norton Critical Edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1964.
23. The Golden Bowl (1904) [NYE 23-24]
    • The Golden Bowl. 1904. With the Author’s Preface. Penguin Modern Classics, 2449. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1966.
24. [with eleven other authors] The Whole Family (1908)
    • [with William Dean Howells, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Mary Heaton Vorse, Mary Stewart Cutting, Elizabeth Jordan, John Kendrick Bangs, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Edith Wyatt, Mary R. Shipman Andrews, Alice Brown & Henry Van Dyke] The Whole Family: A Novel by Twelve Authors. 1908. Introduction by Alfred Bendixen. New York: the Ungar Publishing Company, 1986.
25. The Outcry (1911)
    • The Outcry. Methuen's Colonial Library. London: Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1911.
    • The Outcry. 1911. Introduction by Jean Strouse. New York Review Books Classics. New York: The New York Review of Books, 2002.
26. The Ivory Tower [unfinished] (1917) [NYE 25]
    • The Ivory Tower. Preface by Percy Lubbock. 1917. With an Essay by Ezra Pound. 1954. Introduction by Alan Hollinghurst. New York Review Books Classics. New York: The New York Review of Books, 2004.
27. The Sense of the Past [unfinished] (1917) [NYE 26]
    • The Sense of the Past. The Novels and Tales of Henry James: New York Edition, Volume XXVI. Preface by Percy Lubbock. 1917. Classic Reprint Series. N.p.: Forgotten Books [www.forgottenbooks.org], 2010.

Novellas & Stories:


1. A Tragedy of Error (1864) [LE 1] [Aziz 1] [LoA 1]
2. The Story of a Year (1865) [LE 1] [Aziz 1] [LoA 1]
3. A Landscape Painter (1866) [LE 1] [Aziz 1] [LoA 1]
4. A Day of Days (1866) [LE 1] [Aziz 1] [LoA 1]
5. My Friend Bingham (1867) [LE 1] [Aziz 1] [LoA 1]
6. Poor Richard (1867) [LE 1] [Aziz 1] [LoA 1]
7. The Story of a Masterpiece (1868) [LE 1] [Aziz 1] [LoA 1]
8. The Romance of Certain Old Clothes (1868) [LE 1] [Aziz 1] [LoA 1]
9. A Most Extraordinary Case (1868) [LE 1] [Aziz 1] [LoA 1]
10. A Problem (1868) [LE 1] [Aziz 1] [LoA 1]
11. De Grey: A Romance (1868) [LE 1] [Aziz 1] [LoA 1]
12. Osborne's Revenge (1868) [LE 2] [Aziz 1] [LoA 1]
13. A Light Man (1869) [LE 2] [Aziz 1] [LoA 1]
14. Gabrielle de Bergerac (1869) [LE 2] [Aziz 1] [LoA 1]
15. Travelling Companions (1870) [LE 2] [LoA 1]
16. A Passionate Pilgrim (1871) [LE 2] [NYE 13] [LoA 1]
17. At Isella (1871) [LE 2] [LoA 1]
18. Master Eustace (1871) [LE 2] [LoA 1]
19. Guest's Confession (1872) [LE 2] [LoA 1]
20. The Madonna of the Future (1873) [LE 3] [NYE 13] [LoA 1]
21. The Sweetheart of M. Briseux (1873) [LE 3] [LoA 1]
22. The Last of the Valerii (1874) [LE 3] [LoA 1]
23. Madame de Mauves (1874) [LE 3] [NYE 13] [LoA 1]
24. Adina (1874) [LE 3] [LoA 1]
25. Professor Fargo (1874) [LE 3] [LoA 2]
26. Eugene Pickering (1874) [LE 3] [LoA 2]
27. Benvolio (1875) [LE 3] [LoA 2]
28. Crawford's Consistency (1876) [LE 4] [LoA 2]
29. The Ghostly Rental (1876) [LE 4] [LoA 2]
30. Four Meetings (1877) [LE 4] [NYE 16] [LoA 2]
31. Rose-Agathe [aka "Théodolinde"] (1878) [LE 4] [LoA 2]
32. Daisy Miller: A Study (1878) [LE 4] [NYE 18] [LoA 2]
33. Longstaff's Marriage (1878) [LE 4] [LoA 2]
34. An International Episode (1878) [LE 4] [NYE 14] [LoA 2]
35. The Pension Beaurepas (1879) [LE 4] [NYE 14] [LoA 2]
36. A Diary of a Man of Fifty (1879) [LE 4] [LoA 2]
37. A Bundle of Letters (1879) [LE 4] [NYE 14] [LoA 2]
38. The Point of View (1882) [LE 4] [NYE 14] [LoA 2]
39. The Siege of London (1883) [LE 5] [NYE 14] [LoA 2]
40. Impressions of a Cousin (1883) [LE 5] [LoA 2]
41. Lady Barberina (1884) [LE 5] [NYE 14] [LoA 2]
42. Pandora (1884) [NYE 18] [LE 5] [LoA 2]
43. The Author of "Beltraffio" (1884) [LE 5] [NYE 16] [LoA 2]
44. Georgina's Reasons (1884) [LE 6] [LoA 3]
45. A New England Winter (1884) [LE 6] [LoA 3]
46. The Path of Duty (1884) [LE 6] [LoA 3]
47. Mrs. Temperly (1887) [LE 6] [LoA 3]
48. Louisa Pallant (1888) [LE 6] [NYE 13] [LoA 3]
49. The Aspern Papers (1888) [LE 6] [NYE 12] [LoA 3]
50. The Liar (1888) [LE 6] [NYE 12] [LoA 3]
51. The Modern Warning [aka "The Two Countries"] (1888) [LE 7] [LoA 3]
52. A London Life (1888) [LE 7] [NYE 10] [LoA 3]
53. The Patagonia (1888) [LE 7] [NYE 18] [LoA 3]
54. The Lesson of the Master (1888) [LE 7] [NYE 15] [LoA 3]
55. The Solution (1888) [LE 7] [LoA 3]
56. The Pupil (1891) [LE 7] [NYE 11] [LoA 3]
57. Brooksmith (1891) [LE 8] [NYE 18] [LoA 3]
58. The Marriages (1891) [LE 8] [NYE 18] [LoA 3]
59. The Chaperon (1891) [LE 8] [NYE 10] [LoA 3]
60. Sir Edmund Orme (1891) [LE 8] [NYE 17] [LoA 3]
61. Nona Vincent (1892) [LE 8] [LoA 4]
62. The Real Thing (1892) [LE 8] [NYE 18] [LoA 4]
63. The Private Life (1892) [LE 8] [NYE 17] [LoA 4]
64. Lord Beaupré (1892) [LE 8] [LoA 4]
65. The Visits (1892) [LE 8] [LoA 4]
66. Sir Dominick Ferrand (1892) [LE 8] [LoA 4]
67. Greville Fane (1892) [LE 8] [NYE 16] [LoA 4]
68. Collaboration (1892) [LE 8] [LoA 4]
69. Owen Wingrave (1892) [LE 9] [NYE 17] [LoA 4]
70. The Wheel of Time (1892) [LE 8] [LoA 4]
71. The Middle Years (1893) [LE 9] [NYE 16] [LoA 4]
72. The Death of the Lion (1894) [LE 9] [NYE 15] [LoA 4]
73. The Coxon Fund (1894) [LE 9] [NYE 15] [LoA 4]
74. The Altar of the Dead (1895) [LE 9] [NYE 17] [LoA 4]
75. The Next Time (1895) [LE 9] [NYE 15] [LoA 4]
76. Glasses (1896) [LE 9] [LoA 4]
77. The Figure in the Carpet (1896) [LE 9] [NYE 15] [LoA 4]
78. The Way It Came [aka "The Friends of the Friends"] (1898) [LE 9] [NYE 17] [LoA 4]
79. The Turn of the Screw (1898) [LE 10] [NYE 12] [LoA 4]
80. Covering End (1898) [LE 10] [LoA 4]
81. In the Cage (1898) [LE 10] [NYE 11] [LoA 4]
82. John Delavoy (1898) [LE 9] [LoA 5]
83. The Given Case (1898) [LE 10] [LoA 5]
84. "Europe" (1899) [LE 10] [NYE 16] [LoA 5]
85. The Great Condition (1899) [LE 10] [LoA 5]
86. The Real Right Thing (1899) [LE 10] [NYE 17] [LoA 5]
87. Paste (1899) [LE 10] [NYE 16] [LoA 5]
88. The Great Good Place (1900) [LE 11] [NYE 16] [LoA 5]
89. Maud-Evelyn (1900) [LE 11] [LoA 5]
90. Miss Gunton of Poughkeepsie (1900) [LE 11] [NYE 16] [LoA 5]
91. The Tree of Knowledge (1900) [LE 11] [NYE 16] [LoA 5]
92. The Abasement of the Northmores (1900) [LE 11] [NYE 16] [LoA 5]
93. The Third Person (1900) [LE 11] [LoA 5]
94. The Special Type (1900) [LE 11] [LoA 5]
95. The Tone of Time (1900) [LE 11] [LoA 5]
96. Broken Wings (1900) [LE 11] [NYE 16] [LoA 5]
97. The Two Faces (1900) [LE 11] [NYE 12] [LoA 5]
98. Mrs. Medwin (1901) [LE 11] [NYE 18] [LoA 5]
99. The Beldonald Holbein (1901) [LE 11] [NYE 18] [LoA 5]
100. The Story in It (1902) [LE 11] [NYE 18] [LoA 5]
101. Flickerbridge (1902) [LE 11] [NYE 18] [LoA 5]
102. The Birthplace (1903) [LE 11] [NYE 17] [LoA 5]
103. The Beast in the Jungle (1903) [LE 11] [NYE 17] [LoA 5]
104. The Papers (1903) [LE 12] [LoA 5]
105. Fordham Castle (1904) [LE 12] [NYE 16] [LoA 5]
106. Julia Bride (1908) [LE 12] [NYE 17] [LoA 5]
107. The Jolly Corner (1908) [LE 12] [NYE 17] [LoA 5]
108. "The Velvet Glove" (1909) [LE 12] [LoA 5]
109. Mora Montravers (1909) [LE 12] [LoA 5]
110. Crapy Cornelia (1909) [LE 12] [LoA 5]
111. The Bench of Desolation (1909) [LE 12] [LoA 5]
112. A Round of Visits (1910) [LE 12] [LoA 5]

Collections:


28. A Passionate Pilgrim and Other Tales (Boston, 1875)
    1. A Passionate Pilgrim
    2. The Last of the Valerii
    3. Eugene Pickering
    4. The Madonna of the Future
    5. The Romance of Certain Old Clothes
    6. Madame de Mauves
29. The Madonna of the Future and Other Tales (London, 1879)
    1. The Madonna of the Future
    2. Longstaff's Marriage
    3. Madame de Mauves
    4. Eugene Pickering
    5. The Diary of a Man of Fifty
    6. Benvolio
30. Daisy Miller: A Study, An International Episode, Four Meetings (London, 1879)
31. The Diary of a Man of Fifty and A Bundle of Letters (New York, 1880)
32. Washington Square, The Pension Beaurepas, A Bundle of Letters (London, 1881)
33. The Siege of London, The Pension Beaurepas, and The Point of View (Boston, 1883.)
34. An International Episode, The Pension Beaurepas, The Point of View (London, 1883)
35. The Siege of London, Madame De Mauves (London, 1883)
36. Tales of Three Cities (London & Boston, 1884)
    1. The Impressions of a Cousin
    2. Lady Barberina
    3. A New England Winter
37. The Author of Beltraffio, Pandora, Georgina's Reasons, The Path of Duty, Four Meetings (Boston, 1885)
38. Stories Revived (London, 1885)
    1. The Author of 'Beltraffio'
    2. Pandora
    3. The Path of Duty
    4. A Light Man
    5. A Day of Days
    6. Georgina's Reasons
    7. A Passionate Pilgrim
    8. A Landscape-Painter
    9. Rose-Agathe
    10. Poor Richard
    11. The Last of the Valerii
    12. Master Eustace
    13. The Romance of Certain Old Clothes
    14. A Most Extraordinary Case
39. The Aspern Papers, Louisa Pallant, The Modern Warning (London & New York, 1888)
40. A London Life, The Patagonia, The Liar, Mrs. Temperly (London & New York, 1889)
41. The Lesson of the Master, The Marriages, The Pupil, Brooksmith, The Solution, Sir Edmund Orme (London & New York, 1892)
42. The Real Thing and Other Tales (London & New York, 1893)
    1. The Real Thing
    2. Sir Dominick Ferrand
    3. Nona Vincent
    4. The Chaperon
    5. Greville Fane
43. The Private Life, The Wheel of Time, Lord Beaupré, The Visits, Collaboration, Owen Wingrave (London, 1893)
44. The Private Life, Lord Beaupré, The Visits (New York, 1893)
45. The Wheel of Time, Collaboration, Owen Wingrave (New York, 1893)
46. Terminations (London & New York, 1893)
    1. The Death of the Lion
    2. The Coxon Fund
    3. The Middle Years
    4. The Altar of the Dead
47. Embarrassments (London & New York, 1896)
    1. The Figure in the Carpet
    2. Glasses
    3. The Next Time
    4. The Way it Came
48. The Two Magics (1898)
    1. The Turn of the Screw
    2. Covering End
49. In the Cage (London & New York, 1898)
50. The Soft Side (London & New York, 1900)
    1. The Great Good Place
    2. "Europe"
    3. Paste
    4. The Real Right Thing
    5. The Great Condition
    6. The Tree of Knowledge
    7. The Abasement of the Northmores
    8. The Given Case
    9. John Delavoy
    10. The Third Person
    11. Maud-Evelyn
    12. Miss Gunton of Poughkeepsie
51. The Better Sort (London & New York, 1903)
    1. Broken Wings
    2. The Beldonald Holbein
    3. The Two Faces
    4. The Tone of Time
    5. The Special Type
    6. Mrs. Medwin
    7. Flickerbridge
    8. The Story in It
    9. The Beast in the Jungle
    10. The Birthplace
    11. The Papers
52. Julie Bride (New York, 1909)
53. The Finer Grain (London & New York, 1910)
    1. The Velvet Glove
    2. Mora Montravers
    3. A Round of Visits
    4. Crapy Cornelia
    5. The Bench of Desolation
54. Gabrielle de Bergerac (New York, 1918)
55. A Landscape Painter (New York, 1919)
    1. A Landscape Painter
    2. Poor Richard
    3. A Day of Days
    4. A Most Extraordinary Case
56. Travelling Companions (New York, 1919)
    1. Travelling Companions
    2. The Sweetheart of M. Briseux
    3. Professor Fargo
    4. At Isella
    5. Guest's Confession
    6. Adina
    7. De Grey: A Romance
57. Master Eustace (New York, 1920)
    1. Master Eustace
    2. Longstaff's Marriage
    3. Théodolinde
    4. A Light Man
    5. Benvolio
58. The Turn of the Screw, The Aspern Papers and Other Stories. 1879-1910. Introduction by Michael Swan. Collins Classics. London: Collins, 1956.
59. Ghost Stories. Ed. Martin Scofield. Tales of Mystery & the Supernatural. Ware, Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Limited, 2001.

Plays:


60. Theatricals (1894)
    1. Tenants
    2. Disengaged
61. Theatricals: Second Series (1895)
    1. The Album
    2. The Reprobate
62. Guy Domville (1895)
    • Guy Domville: A Play in Three Acts. With Comments by Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, Arnold Bennett. Preceded by Biographical Chapters, Henry James: The Dramatic Years. Ed. Leon Edel. 1960. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1961.
63. The Complete Plays of Henry James. Ed. Leon Edel. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1949.
64. The Scenic Art: Notes on Acting and the Drama, 1872-1910. Ed. Allan Wade. Foreword by Leon Edel. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1949.

Travel:


65. Transatlantic Sketches (1875)
66. Portraits of Places (1883)
67. A Little Tour in France (1884)
68. English Hours (1905)
69. The American Scene (1907)
70. Italian Hours (1909)
71. Within the Rim (1918)
72. Travelling in Italy with Henry James: Essays. Ed. Fred Kaplan. A John Curtis Book. London: Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., 1994.

Literary Criticism:


73. French Poets and Novelists (1878)
74. Hawthorne (1879)
    • Included in: The Shock of Recognition: The Development of Literature in the United States Recorded by the Men Who Made It. Ed. Edmund Wilson. Illustrated by Robert F. Hallock. 1943. Second Edition. New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1955.
75. Partial Portraits (1888)
76. Essays in London and Elsewhere (1893)
77. Picture and Text (1893)
78. The Question of our Speech; The Lesson of Balzac. Two Lectures (1905)
79. Views and Reviews (1908)
80. Notes on Novelists (1914)
81. A Most Unholy Trade (1925)
82. The Art of the Novel: Critical Prefaces (1934)
    • The Art of the Novel: Critical Prefaces. Introduction by Richard P. Blackmur. 1934. New York & London: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1947.
83. The House of Fiction: Essays on the Novel. Ed. Leon Edel. 1957. Mercury Books, 24. London: The Heinemann Group of Publishers, 1962.
84. Selected Literary Criticism. Ed. Morris Shapira. Preface by F. R. Leavis. 1963. A Peregrine Book Y73. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1968.

Biography & Autobiography:


85. William Wetmore Story and His Friends (1903)
    • William Wetmore Story and His Friends: From Letters, Diaries, and Recollections. In Two Volumes (Combined). 1903. London: Thames & Hudson, n.d.
86. A Small Boy and Others (1913)
87. Notes of a Son and Brother (1914)
88. The Middle Years [unfinished] (1917)
    • Autobiography: A Small Boy and Others; Notes of a Son and Brother; The Middle Years. 1913, 1914, 1917. Ed. Frederick W. Dupree. London: W. H. Allen, 1956.

Notebooks:


89. The Notebooks of Henry James. Ed. F. O. Matthiessen & Kenneth B. Murdock. 1947. A Galaxy Book GB 61. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1961.
90. The Complete Notebooks of Henry James. Ed. Leon Edel & Lyall H. Powers. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1987.

Letters:


91. Smith, Janet Adam, ed. Henry James and Robert Louis Stevenson: A Record of Friendship and Criticism. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1948.
92. Edel, Leon, ed. The Selected Letters of Henry James. New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1955.
93. Letters. 4 vols. Ed. Leon Edel. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press / London: Macmillan London Limited, 1974-84.
    1. 1843-1875 (1974)
    2. 1875-1883 (1975)
    3. 1883-1895 (1980)
    4. 1895-1916 (1984)
94. Selected Letters. Ed. Leon Edel. The Belknap Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts & London: Harvard University Press, 1987.
95. Powers, Lyall H, ed. Henry James and Edith Wharton. Letters: 1900-1915. London: George Weidenfeld & Nicolson Limited, 1990.
96. Horne, Philip, ed. Henry James: A Life in Letters. Viking Penguin. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1999.

Secondary:


97. Edel, Leon. Henry James. 5 vols. 1953-1972. New York: Avon Books, 1978.
    1. The Untried Years: 1843-1870 (1953)
    2. The Conquest of London: 1870-1881 (1962)
    3. The Middle Years: 1882-1895 (1962)
    4. The Treacherous Years: 1895-1901 (1969)
    5. The Master: 1901-1916 (1972)
98. Edel, Leon. The Life of Henry James. 1953-1972. 2 vols. Peregrine Books. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1977.
    1. 1843-89 (1977)
    2. 1890-1916 (1977)
99. Edel, Leon. Henry James: A Life. 1953-1972 & 1977. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., 1985.
100. Hyde, H. Montgomery. Henry James at Home. London: Methuen, 1969.
101. Lewis, R. W. B. The Jameses: A Family Narrative. 1991. An Anchor Book. New York: Doubleday, 1993.
102. Nowell-Smith, Simon. The Legend of the Master: Henry James as Others Saw Him. 1947. Oxford Paperbacks. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985.
103. Sheppard, E. A. Henry James and The Turn of the Screw. Auckland: Auckland University Press / Oxford University Press, 1974.

•

• category - American Fiction: Authors

•

Acquisitions (40): A Baker's Dozen of 6-volume Sets

Antiquarian Books

•


Edwardian Inlaid Book Trough

A Baker's Dozen of 6-volume Sets
[Classified during the first COVID-19 lockdown: Auckland, March 25-May 14, 2020]:

'Daddy, what did you do in the Great War?' (1914-15)

'What did you do during the Covid-19 lockdown?' might be a more contemporary version of the question from this classic British recruiting poster. Sat at home in my bubble, mostly, with occasional trips to the park and expeditions to the local supermarket, would have to be my answer.

For the most part, though, I tried to organise my book collection - adding plastic covers to those books that seemed to need them, and continuing to map their positions on the shelves for easy access.

Does that sound futile? No doubt. I was working as well, but there are only so many hours a day one can spend marking assignments and organising zoom tutorials. Part of the fruits of my labours is this list of sets of books in my collection. Enjoy - and please don't judge me too harshly ...

•

This is the second in a series of 'sets' of books chosen by me according to fairly arbitrarily selected criteria. They date, respectively, from 2019, 2020, and 2021.

1. Joseph Addison. The Works. Ed. Richard Hurd. Rev. Henry Bohn. 6 vols. Bohn’s Standard Library. London: George Bell and Sons, 1901-06.
2. Jane Austen. The Works: The Text Based on Collation of the Early Editions. With Notes, Indexes and Illustrations from Contemporary Sources. The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen. Ed. R. W. Chapman. 5 vols. 1923. 6 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1948-1954. London: Oxford University Press, 1975.
3. Richard Barber. Legends. ['Legends of King Arthur', 1998; 'British Myths and Legends', 2000]. Illustrated by Roman Pisarev & John Vernon Lord. 6 vols. London: The Folio Society, 2001 & 2002.
4. William Blake. The Illuminated Books. 6 vols. London: The William Blake Trust & The Tate Gallery / Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991-95.
5. Sir Thomas Browne. The Works. Ed. Geoffrey Keynes. 6 vols. London: Faber & Gwyer / New York: William Edwin Rudge, 1928-31.
6. Emily Dickinson. Poems / Letters. ['The Poems of Emily Dickinson', 1955; 'The Letters of Emily Dickinson', 1958]. Ed. Thomas H. Johnson et al. 6 vols. Cambridge, Mass & London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1998 & 1979.
7. F. Scott Fitgerald. The Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald. 6 vols. London: The Bodley Head, 1958-63.
8. Edward Gibbon. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Ed. Oliphant Smeaton. 6 vols. Everyman’s Library. 1910. London: J. M. Dent / New York: E. P. Dutton, 1928.
9. Henry James. The Novels. Ed. William T. Stafford, Daniel Mark Fogel, Myra Jehlen, Leo Bersani & Ross Posnock. 6 vols. The Library of America. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1983-2011.
10. Polybius. The Histories. Trans. W. R. Paton. Introduction by Col. H. J. Edwards. 6 vols. 1922, 1922, 1923, 1925, 1926, 1927. Loeb Classics. London: William Heinemann / Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967, 1968, 1972.
11. Rainer Maria Rilke. Sämtliche Werke. Ed. Rilke Archive, with Ruth Sieber-Rilke & Ernst Zinn. 6 vols. Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1955-1966.
12. William Robertson. The Works: To Which is Prefaced an Account of the Life and Writings of the Author. Ed. Dugald Stewart. 6 vols. London: Longman, Brown, Green, & Longmans, et al., 1851.
13. Virginia Woolf. The Letters. Ed. Nigel Nicolson, with Joanne Trautmann. 6 vols. London: The Hogarth Press, 1975-80.

•

A Baker's Dozen of Omnibuses
[Classified during the fourth Auckland COVID-19 lockdown:
August 18-December 3, 2021]:

1. F. Anstey. Humour & Fantasy ['Vice Versa', 1882; 'The Tinted Venus', 1885; 'A Fallen Idol', 1886; 'The Talking Horse', 1892; 'Salted Almonds', 1906; 'The Brass Bottle', 1900]. London: John Murray, 1931. [1180 pp.]
2. John Buchan. The Four Adventures of Richard Hannay ['The Thirty-Nine Steps', 1915; 'Greenmantle', 1916; 'Mr Standfast', 1919; 'The Three Hostages', 1924]. 1930. London: Hodder and Stoughton Limited, 1953. [1214 pp.]
3. Lewis Carroll. The Complete Works. ['Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland', 1865; 'Phantasmagoria', 1869; 'Through the Looking Glass', 1871; 'The Hunting of the Snark', 1876; 'Sylvie and Bruno', 1889; 'Sylvie and Bruno Concluded', 1893; All the Early and Late Verse, Short Stories, Essays, Games, Puzzles, Problems, Acrostics, and Miscellaneous Writings]. Illustrated by John Tenniel. Introduction by Alexander Woollcott. 1939. Modern Library Giant. New York: The Modern Library, n.d. [1310 pp.]
4. Joseph Conrad. The Complete Short Stories ['To-morrow' (1902); 'Amy Foster' (1901); 'Karain: A Memory' (1897); 'The Idiots' (1896); 'An Outpost of Progress' (1896); 'The Return' (1897); 'The Lagoon' (1896); 'Youth: A Narrative' (1898); 'Heart of Darkness' (1898-99); 'The End of the Tether' (1902); 'Gaspar Ruiz' (1904-5); 'The Informer' (1906); 'The Brute' (1906); 'An Anarchist' (1905); 'The Duel' (1908); 'Il Conde' (1908); 'A Smile of Fortune' (1910); 'The Secret Sharer' (1909); 'Freya of the Seven Isles' (1910-11); 'The Planter of Malata' (1914); 'The Partner' (1911); 'The Inn of the Two Witches' (1913); 'Because of the Dollars' (1914); 'The Warrior's Soul' (1915-16); 'Prince Roman' (1910); 'The Tale' (1916); 'The Black Mate' (1886)]. London: Hutchinson & Co. (Publishers), Ltd., 1933. [1007 pp.]
5. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Conan Doyle Stories [Tales of the Ring & the Camp; Tales of Pirates & Blue Water; Tales of Terror & Mystery; Tales of Twilight & the Unseen; Tales of Adventure & Medical Life; Tales of Long Ago]. 1929. London: John Murray, 1951. [1216 pp.]
6. Kenneth Grahame. The Kenneth Grahame Book ['The Golden Age', 1895; 'Dream Days', 1898; 'The Wind in the Willows', 1908]. 1932. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1933. [412 pp.]
7. Thomas Hardy. The Short Stories ['Wessex Tales', 1888; 'Life's Little Ironies', 1894; 'A Group of Noble Dames', 1891; 'A Changed Man and Other Tales', 1913]. London: Macmillan and Co. Ltd., 1928. [1084 pp.]
8. E. W. Hornung. The Collected Raffles ['The Amateur Cracksman', 1899; 'The Black Mask' (1901); 'A Thief in the Night', 1905]. Introduction by Jeremy Lewis. Classic Thrillers. London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1985. [448 pp.]
9. M. R. James. The Ghost Stories of M. R. James. ['Ghost Stories of an Antiquary', 1904; 'More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary', 1911; 'A Thin Ghost and Others', 1919; 'A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories'; 1925]. 1931. London: Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd., [1975]. [656 pp.]
10. H. G. Wells. The Short Stories of H. G. Wells. 1927. London: Ernest Benn Limited, 1952. [1038 pp.]
11. Oscar Wilde. The Works. ['The Picture of Dorian Gray', 1890; 'Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories', 1891; 'A House of Pomegranates', 1891; 'The Happy Prince and Other Tales', 1888; 'Lady Windermere's Fan', 1892; 'A Woman of No Importance', 1893; 'An Ideal Husband', 1895; 'The Importance of Being Earnest', 1895; Poems; 'Intentions', 1891]. With Fifteen Original Drawings by Donia Nachshen. 1931. London: Collins, n.d. [1247 pp.]
12. P. G. Wodehouse. Week-End Wodehouse. Introduction by Hilaire Belloc. Decorations by Kerr. 1939. London: Pimlico / Herbert Jenkins Ltd., 1992. [512 pp.]
13. P. C. Wren. Stories of the Foreign Legion: A P. C. Wren Omnibus ['Stepsons of France', 1917; 'Good Gestes: Stories of Beau Geste, His Brothers, and Certain of Their Comrades in the French Foreign Legion', 1929; 'Flawed Blades: Tales from the Foreign Legion', 1933; 'Port o' Missing Men: Strange Tales of the Stranger Regiment', 1934]. 1947. London: John Murray, 1953. [655 pp.]

•

A Baker's Dozen of 12-volume Sets
[Acquired: Paeroa, Monday, September 2, 2019]:

1. Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë. The Works. Illustrations by A. S. Greig. Ornaments by T. C. Tilney. 9 vols of 12. 1893. London: J. M. Dent, 1895-96.
2. George Gordon, Lord Byron. Byron's Letters and Journals: The Complete and Unexpurgated Text of All the Letters Available in Manuscript and the Full Printed Version of All Others. Ed. Leslie A. Marchand. 12 vols. London: John Murray, 1973-1982.
3. Giacomo Casanova di Seingalt. The Memoirs: Translated into English by Arthur Machen. Privately Printed for Subscribers Only. 1894. Limited Edition of 1,000 numbered sets. + The Twelfth Volume of the Memoirs of Giacomo Casanova; Containing Chapters VII. and VIII. Never Before Printed; Discovered and Translated by Mr. Arthur Symons; and Complete with an Index and Maps by Mr. Thomas Wright. 12 vols. London: The Casanova Society, 1922-1923.
4. Daniel Defoe. The Shakespeare Head Edition of the Novels and Selected Writings. [The Shortest Way with the Dissenters and other pamphlets (1702); A Plan of the English Commerce (1728); The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner, 3 vols (1719); A Journal of the Plague Year (1722); The Fortunate Mistress, 2 vols (1724); Captain Singleton (1720);Memoirs of a Cavalier (1720); Moll Flanders, 2 vols (1722); Colonel Jack, 2 vols (1722)]. 1927-28. 14 vols. [The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner, 3 vols (1719); A Journal of the Plague Year (1722); The Fortunate Mistress, 2 vols (1724)]. 6 vols of 12. Oxford: Basil Blackwell / Stratford-upon-Avon: The Shakespeare Head Press / London: William Clowes & Sons Limited, 1974.
5. Diodorus Siculus. The Library of History. 12 vols. Loeb Classics. London: William Heinemann / Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1935-67.
6. Fyodor Dostoevsky. The Novels. Trans. Constance Garnett. 12 vols. 1912. London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1912-1920.
7. Henry James. The Complete Tales. Ed. Leon Edel. 12 vols. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1962-1964.
8. Andrew Lang. The Fairy Books. Illustrated by H. J. Ford. 12 vols. 1889-1910.
9. Enno Littmann. Die Erzählungen aus den Tausendundein Nächten: Vollständige deutsche Ausgabe in zwölf Teilbänden zum ersten mal nach dem arabischen Urtext der Calcuttaer Ausgabe aus dem Jahre 1839 übertragen von Enno Littmann. 1921-28. 2nd ed. 1953. 6 vols in 12. Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1976.
10. Edward Powys Mathers. The Anthology of Eastern Love. Engravings by Hester Sainsbury. 12 vols in 4. London: John Rodker, 1927-30.
11. Alexander Pope. The Poems: Twickenham Edition. Ed. John Butt et al. 12 vols. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd. / New Haven: Yale University Press, 1940-69.
12. Arthur Ransome. The Swallows and Amazons Series. 12 vols. London: Jonathan Cape, 1930-47.
13. William Makepeace Thackeray. The Works. 12 vols. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1881-1882.

•


Joseph Addison: The Works (1901-06)

1. Joseph Addison. The Works. Ed. Richard Hurd. Rev. Henry Bohn. 6 vols. Bohn’s Standard Library. London: George Bell and Sons, 1901-06.
1. Plays; Poems; Medals (1906)
2. The Tatler; The Spectator (1901)
3. The Spectator (cont.) (1906)
4. The Spectator (cont.); The Guardian; The Freeholder (1902)
5. The Freeholder (cont.); On the Christian Religion; Letters (1902)
6. Letters (cont.); Addisoniana (1902)



There are certain recurrent numbers in the book-trade - books are grouped in sets of three, four, six, ten or twelve - less often five, seven, or nine. Hence the idea for this blogpost (as well as the companion one on sets of twelve books in my possession).

I do like these old Bohn Classics - they're surprisingly pleasant to read, though grey is perhaps not the most inspiring of colours.

As for Addison, well, I can't say I've (so far) read a great deal of his work: a few Spectator essays, some poems, but you never know when an edition of his collected works mightn't come in handy!



Sir Godfrey Kneller: Joseph Addison (1672-1719)




•


R. W. Chapman. ed.: The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen (1923-54)



2. The Works of Jane Austen: The Text Based on Collation of the Early Editions. With Notes, Indexes and Illustrations from Contemporary Sources. The Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen. Ed. R. W. Chapman. 6 vols.
1. Sense and Sensibility. 1811. 1923. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1949.
2. Pride and Prejudice. 1813. 1923. London: Geoffrey Cumberlege / Oxford University Press, 1952.
3. Mansfield Park. 1814. 1923. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1948.
4. Emma. 1816. 1923. London: Geoffrey Cumberlege / Oxford University Press, 1952.
5. Northanger Abbey & Persuasion. 1818. 1923. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1948.
6. Minor Works. Now First Collected and Edited from the Manuscripts. 1954. 3rd ed. Rev. B. C. Southam. 1969. London: Oxford University Press, 1975.



This, by contrast, is a bona fide classic. There's something rather delicious in the way that Chapman has tried to preserve even the accidental features of Austen's original publications. His claim that even her volume breaks are arranged for maximum dramatic effect is a bold one, but very persuasive in the case of Mansfield Park, in particular.

It's hard to imagine this edition ever being superseded. That's not to say that there isn't more - much more - to be said on the subject of Austen and her intentions, but simply that anything textually related will have to be based on the foundation of what the Oxford Illustrated Jane Austen has already achieved.



Cassandra Austen: Jane Austen (1775-1817)




•


Richard Barber: Legends of King Arthur (2001)



3. Richard Barber. Legends. 1998 & 2000. 6 vols. London: The Folio Society, 2001 & 2002.
• Set I - Legends of King Arthur. Illustrated by Roman Pisarev. 3 vols (2001):
  1. Arthur
  2. Tristan
  3. The Holy Grail
• Set II - British Myths and Legends. Illustrated by John Vernon Lord. 3 vols (2002):
  1. Marvels and Magic
  2. Heroes and Saints
  3. History and Romance



I do have rather a soft spot for these multi-volumed Folio Society reprints of books originally far less inspiring in appearance.

These two, together, perform the very useful function of providing a clearly written summary of the legendarium of England, free from the archaic phrasing of Caxton, Malory, Geoffrey of Monmouth, and many others. I can certainly imagine it providing a wonderful introduction to the subject for younger readers, as well as those of us who have at one time or another struggled through the originals.

Mind you, as Caxton put it in his preface to the Morte d'Arthur, "for to pass the time this book shall be pleasant to read in, but for to give faith and belief that all is true that is contained herein, ye be at your liberty."



Richard Barber: British Myths and Legends (2002)




•


William Blake: The Illuminated Books (1991-95)



4. William Blake. The Illuminated Books. 6 vols. London: The William Blake Trust & The Tate Gallery / Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991-95.
1. Jerusalem the Emanation of the Giant Albion. Ed. M. D. Paley (1991)
2. Songs of Innocence and Experience. Ed. A. Lincoln (1991)
3. The Early Illuminated Books. Ed. M. Eaves, R. N. Essick & J. Viscomi (1993)
4. The Continental Prophecies. Ed. D. W. Dörrbecker (1995)
5. Milton a Poem. Ed. R. N. Essick & J. Viscomi (1993)
6. The Urizen Books. Ed. D. Worrall (1995)



There have been many attempts to reprint Blake's prophetic books. This is one of the most sumptuous. Of course, the problem is that the colouring of each copy - whether done by Blake himself or by Mrs. Blake - is unique.

Having said that, there are certain consistencies. Late copies tend to be far richer in purples and violets than the more delicate water-colour hues the little family business started off with.

That proviso apart, this is probably as good a set of his master-works as we're ever likely to see.



William Blake: The Illuminated Books (1991-95)




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Geoffrey Keynes, ed.: The Works of Sir Thomas Browne (1928-31)



5. The Works of Sir Thomas Browne. Ed. Geoffrey Keynes. 6 vols. London: Faber & Gwyer / New York: William Edwin Rudge, 1928-31.
1. Religio Medici; Christian Morals; A Letter to a Friend (1928)
2. Pseudodoxia Epidemica, Books I-III (1928)
3. Pseudodoxia Epidemica, Books IV-VII (1928)
4. Hydrotaphia; Brampton Urns: The Garden of Cyrus (1929)
5. Miscellany Tracts; Repertorium; Miscellaneous Writings (1931)
6. Letters (1931)



It's hard to describe the charm of Browne's work to someone who hasn't experienced it. It sounds dry-as-dust, but actually it's anything but that.

It's no accident that he was one of Jorge Luis Borges's favourite authors. The two shared an affinity for the weird, the recondite, and the paradoxical.

There may be more scholarly annotated editions out there, but this one - edited by bibliographer and pioneering Blake scholar Geoffrey Keynes - is certainly one of the most beautiful books of its era, the late 1920s.



John Wollaston: Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682)




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R. W. Franklin, ed.: The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Variorum Edition (1998)



6. Emily Dickinson. Poems / Letters. 6 vols. 1955 & 1958. Cambridge, Mass & London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1998 & 1979.
1. The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Variorum Edition. Ed. R. W. Franklin. 3 vols (1998)
2. The Letters of Emily Dickinson. Ed. Thomas H. Johnson, with Associate Editor Theodora Ward. 3 vols. 1958 (1979)



No matter what your opinion of the merits of the Belle of Amherst, you'll certainly find her work most commodiously presented in these handsome hardback volumes.

A variorum edition of the poems was definitely necessary, given her equivocal views on revision and alternative readings.

The letters are, perhaps, the true treasure here, though. They read as much as a family drama as an intellectual autobiography, and are indispensable to any true appreciation of her work.



Thomas H. Johnson & Theodora Ward, ed.: The Letters of Emily Dickinson (1958)




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F. Scott Fitgerald: The Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald (1958-63)



7. F. Scott Fitgerald. The Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald. London: The Bodley Head, 1958-63.
1. The Great Gatsby; The Last Tycoon and Some Shorter Pieces. 1925, 1941. Introduction by J. B. Priestley (1958)
2. Tender is the Night; Autobiographical Pieces; Letters to Frances Scott Fitzgerald and Four Short Stories. 1934 (1959)
3. This Side of Paradise; The Rich Boy; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; The Cut-Glass Bowl and Other Short Stories (1960)
4. The Beautiful and Damned. 1922 & 1961. Rev. ed. 1967 (1979)
5. Short Stories – I. Early Successes; II. Glamour and Disillusionment. Ed. Malcolm Cowley. 1951 (1963)
6. Short Stories – III. Retrospective: Basil and Josephine; IV. Last Act and Epilogue. Ed. Malcolm Cowley. 1951 (1963)



There's something rather beautiful about these Bodley Head sets of particular writers - Max Beerbohm, Ford Madox Ford, Jack London, and Henry James are some of the others.

While I have myself reluctantly concluded that Fitzgerald was essentially a one-book man - The Great Gatsby seems somehow to encapsulate almost all that he had to say in the fictional form - I do find many of his shorter pieces very accomplished, and it's a pleasure to read him in this form.

Mind you, the flow of posthumous and uncollected stories seems still to be steadily accreting. And some of this new material is undeniably interesting - but there's not much there to change the views one would form from these six elegant volumes.



F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)




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Edward Gibbon: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1910)



8. Edward Gibbon. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Ed. Oliphant Smeaton. 6 vols. Everyman’s Library. 1910. London: J. M. Dent / New York: E. P. Dutton, 1928.



I've told elsewhere the true tale of my acquisition of these volumes.

They're certainly not a patch on David Womersley's Penguin Classics edition, but they remain very attractive, especially now they've been given a set of new mylar covers.

I've only made it all the way to the end of Gibbon's great work once, though I've read the first couple of volumes a number of times. He remains one of my favourite authors, though - perhaps because his matter-of-fact approach to the history of the early church seems to me so refreshingly honest.



Henry Walton: Edward Gibbon (1737-1794)




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Henry James: Complete Novels (1983-2011)



9. The Novels of Henry James. Ed. William T. Stafford, Daniel Mark Fogel, Myra Jehlen, Leo Bersani & Ross Posnock. 6 vols. The Library of America. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1983-2011.
1. Novels 1871-1880: Watch and Ward / Roderick Hudson / The American / The Europeans / Confidence. 1871, 1875, 1877, 1878 & 1879. Ed. William T. Stafford. The Library of America, 13 (1983)
2. Novels 1881-1886: Washington Square / The Portrait of a Lady / The Bostonians. 1880, 1881 & 1886. Ed. William T. Stafford. The Library of America, 29 (1985)
3. Novels 1886-1890: The Princess Casamassima / The Reverberator / The Tragic Muse. 1886, 1888 & 1890. Ed. Daniel Mark Fogel. The Library of America, 43 (1989)
4. Novels 1896-1899: The Other House / The Spoils of Poynton / What Maisie Knew / The Awkward Age. 1896, 1897, 1897 & 1899. Ed. Myra Jehlen. The Library of America, 139 (2003)
5. Novels 1901-1902: The Sacred Fount / The Wings of the Dove. 1901 & 1902. Ed. Leo Bersani. The Library of America, 162 (2006)
6. Novels 1903-1911: The Ambassadors / The Golden Bowl / The Outcry / Appendix: “The Married Son.” 1903, 1904, 1911 & 1908. Ed. Ross Posnock. The Library of America, 215 (2011)



The textual history of Henry James's novels and stories was greatly complicated by his decision to revise most of them substantially for the 24-volume New York edition (1907-1909). This entailed turning his clear early prose into the more tortuous idiolect of his later style, with predictably uneven results. The Library of America has therefore attempted to reproduce the first book-form of each novel, rather than these later versions, which are - in any case - readily available elsewhere.

I actually have a facsimile edition of the printer's copy for the revised text of The American (1877), which really has to be seen to be believed. Certainly no-one can accuse James of undertaking the task lightly. Virtually every page has extensive additions and changes, including the notorious 'his cheek knew the kiss of the matitutinal steel' for the original 'he was clean-shaven.'



Henry James: Novels 1903-1911 (2011)




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Polybius: The Histories (1922-27)



10. Polybius. The Histories. Trans. W. R. Paton. Introduction by Col. H. J. Edwards. 6 vols. 1922, 1922, 1923, 1925, 1926, 1927. Loeb Classics. London: William Heinemann / Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967, 1968, 1972.



Polybius wrote a history of his own times which included an eye-witness account of the sack of Carthage in the Third Punic War.

That is, in fact, his principal subject matter: the struggle between Rome and Carthage for domination of the Mediterranean.

These dual-text Loeb editions can be somewhat cumbrous to read, but are indispensable if one wants to know precisely what some ancient author or other actually said. And that can matter just as much in the case of an historian as an epic poet or dramatist.



Polybius (c.200-118 BCE)




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Rainer Maria Rilke: Sämtliche Werke (1955-66)



11. Rainer Maria Rilke. Sämtliche Werke. Ed. Rilke Archive, with Ruth Sieber-Rilke & Ernst Zinn. 6 vols. Frankfurt am Main: Insel Verlag, 1955-1966.
1. Erster Band: Gedichte, Erster Teil. 1955 (1982)
2. Zweiter Band: Gedichte, Zweiter Teil. 1956 (1982)
3. Dritter Band: Jugendgedichte. 1959 (1982)
4. Vierter Band: Frühe Erzählungen und Dramen. 1961 (1978)
5. Fünfter Band: Worpswede; Auguste Rodin; Aufsätze. 1965 (1984)
6. Sechster Band: Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge; Prosa 1906 bis 1926 (1966)



I had a long period of Rilke-fixation during my undergraduate years at Auckland University. J. B. Leishman's translations of his works were the the easiest to get hold of then, and I developed quite a taste for his careful, accurate - though somewhat uninpired - versions. I felt that they took me closer to the original poems than later, more impressionistic recreations.

I was also taking my first steps in German at the time (we'd only had Russian and French as foreign languages at school - no Latin or German, so I tried to repair my deficiencies in both areas in my first few years at the University of Auckland.

This is the standard version of Rilke's collected works, in a very handsome hardback edition.



Leonid Pasternak: Rilke (1875-1926)




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William Robertson: Works (1826)



12. The Works of William Robertson, D.D. To Which is Prefaced an Account of the Life and Writings of the Author. Ed. Dugald Stewart. 6 vols. London: Longman, Brown, Green, & Longmans, et al., 1851.
1. The History of Scotland: 1542-1603 (1759) (1)
2. The History of Scotland: 1542-1603 (1759) (2)
3. The History of the Reign of Emperor Charles V (1769) (1)
4. The History of the Reign of Emperor Charles V (1769) (2)
5. The History of America (1777) (1)
6. The History of America (1777) (2) / An Historical Disquisition Concerning the Knowledge Which the Ancients Had of India (1791)



Reading the work of eighteenth and nineteenth century historians is now more of a pastime for literary scholars than actual students of history. It's generally assumed that subsequent research will have invalidated their conclusions and superseded many of their facts.

This may well be so - especially in the case of Robertson's History of America, which records his intense scepticism about the state of civilisation in Mexico and Peru before their conquest by the Spanish.

Having spent a good deal of time poring over the pages of Macaulay, Motley, Prescott and Parkman, however, I have to say that I do think there are still things to be learnt from these authors - certainly in terms of narrative cohesion, even if many of their details are now unreliable.

This is one of various books I purchased from Professor Peter Lineham on his retirement. It certainly couldn't have gone to a more appreciative home.



William Robertson (1721-1793)




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Virginia Woolf: The Letters (1975-80)



13. The Letters of Virginia Woolf. Ed. Nigel Nicolson, with Joanne Trautmann. 6 vols. London: The Hogarth Press, 1975-80.
1. The Flight of the Mind: 1888-1912 (Virginia Stephen) (1975)
2. The Question of Things Happening: 1912-1922 (1976)
3. A Change of Perspective: 1923-1928 (1977)
4. A Reflection of the Other Person: 1929-1931 (1978)
5. The Sickle Side of the Moon: 1932-1935 (1979)
6. Leave the Letters Till We're Dead: 1936-1941. 1980 (1983)



Virginia Woolf's letters and diaries have become a vital source of gossip about English intellectual life in the first half of the twentieth century. You name it, she's got a bitchy comment to make about it - which is very useful if one is studying any of these people in their own right.

You certainly can't fault her for telling it like it is. It might perhaps have been kinder to hold back on occasion, but as far as the all-important task of amusing posterity goes, she is the Queen of Confrontation ...

There are six volumes in this set of her collected letters, another six volumes of collected essays, and six volumes of diaries (5 in the main series, plus another book of early journals). It's possible that these books are more assiduously pored over now than any of her actual fiction, strange to say.

George Charles Beresford: Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)

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Antiquarian Bookshop

So there you are. Clearly this principle could be applied ad infinitum: sets of five books, trilogies, etc. But you get the general idea.

Some people, I suppose, are turned off by the sheer concentrated wordage on offer in such multi-volume sets. I'm afraid I'm not one of them. C. S. Lewis is alleged to have said once that you couldn't find a book long enough or a cup of tea large enough for him. I don't know if I'd go to quite those lengths, but I certainly do like a long drawn-out reading project.

And going from volume to volume, rather than shifting bookmarks in some weighty tome, is by far my favourite way of doing it.

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• category - English Prose (post-1900): Alphabetical

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