Books

First edition, originally published within the Century Magazine, February 1885 to February 1886. There were numerous revisions between serial and book publication. F. R. Leavis was to claim that the book was "one of the two most brilliant novels in the language" (the other being The Portrait of a Lady). Wittersham House in Kent dates from the early 19th century but the exterior was rebuilt in 1907 by Sir Edwin Lutyens for Alfred Lyttelton (1857-1913), the lawyer, politician, and sportsman. James certainly knew Lyttelton and his wife: in his autobiography, A. C. Benson recalled his meeting in July 1884 with Henry James at which Miss Laura Tennant, soon to become Lyttelton's wife, was also present. In April 1886, a couple of months after publication of The Bostonians, Lyttelton's wife died of complications from childbirth. James wrote a heartfelt letter of condolence: "I cannot bear to write to you - for even the tenderest speech of friends must seem to you today intrusive & almost impertinent. But I can bear still less to keep silent when my heart is full of the constant compassionate thought of you & of the infinitely touching vision, & remembrance never to be lost, of her..." As required by Edel and Laurence, this set includes 2 pp. of publisher's advertisements at the rear of vol. 2 and 4 pp. of publisher's advertisements at the rear of vol. 3. Edel and Laurence state that the first printing was of 500 copies, published 16 February 1886, with a second undifferentiated impression of 100 copies the following month. David J. Supino suggests that "a possible distinguishing characteristic" between the two impressions might be an error in the running head on page 31 in vol. 1. This error comprises the chapter number appearing as II rather than III. This characteristic is present in this set. READ MORE Three volumes, octavo. Original dark blue-green fine-bead-grain cloth, double-rule border and curved-edge panel in black on front cover and in blind on the rear cover, lettering and publisher's device in gilt and decorative rules at the top and bottom on spines in black, brown-coated endpapers, all edges untrimmed. Housed in a custom green morocco-backed folding box. Bookplates to the front pastedowns. Extremities slightly bumped, minor leaning and toning to spines, occasional minor bubbling to cloth, inner hinges splitting or split, a near-fine, bright and attractive set. Edel & Laurence A28; Supino 28.1.0; A. C. Benson, Memories and Friends, 1924; ed. Anesko and Zacharias, The Complete Letters of Henry James 1884-1886, 2021

The Bostonians is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in The Century Magazine in 1885–1886 and then as a book in 1886. The novel is a bittersweet tragicomedy centered on an odd triangle of characters: Basil Ransom, a political conservative from Mississippi; Olive Chancellor, Ransom's cousin and a Boston feminist; and Verena Tarrant, a pretty, young protégée of Olive's in the feminist movement. The story concerns the struggle between Ransom and Olive for Verena's allegiance and the effect that struggle has on all of their lives.