Henry James - The American

In 1819, millworker William Collins from Glasgow, Scotland, set up a company for printing and publishing pamphlets, sermons, hymn books and prayer books. That company was Collins and was to mark the birth of HarperCollins Publishers as we know it today. The long tradition of Collins dictionary publishing can be traced back to the first dictionary William published in 1824, Greek and English Lexicon . Indeed, from 1840 onwards, he began to produce illustrated dictionaries and even obtained a licence to print and publish the Bible.

Soon after, William published the first Collins novel, Ready Reckoner ; however, it was the time of the Long Depression, where harvests were poor, prices were high, potato crops had failed and violence was erupting in Europe. As a result, many factories across the country were forced to close down and William chose to retire in 1846, partly due to the hardships he was facing.

Aged 30, William’s son, William II took over the business. A keen humanitarian with a warm heart and a generous spirit, William II was truly ‘Victorian’ in his outlook. He introduced new, up-to-date steam presses and published affordable editions of Shakespeare’s works and The Pilgrim’s Progress , making them available to the masses for the first time. A new demand for educational books meant that success came with the publication of travel books, scientific books, encyclopaedias and dictionaries. This demand to be educated led to the later publication of atlases and Collins also held the monopoly on scripture writing at the time.

In the 1860s Collins began to expand and diversify and the idea of ‘books for the millions’ was developed. Affordable editions of classical literature were published and in 1903 Collins introduced 10 titles in their Collins Handy Illustrated Pocket Novels. These proved so popular that a few years later this had increased to an output of 50 volumes, selling nearly half a million in their year of publication. In the same year, The Everyman’s Library was also instituted, with the idea of publishing an affordable library of the most important classical works, biographies, religious and philosophical treatments, plays, poems, travel and adventure. This series eclipsed all competition at the time and the introduction of paperback books in the 1950s helped to open that market and marked a high point in the industry.

HarperCollins is and has always been a champion of the classics and the current Collins Classics series follows in this tradition – publishing classical literature that is affordable and available to all. Beautifully packaged, highly collectible and intended to be reread and enjoyed at every opportunity.

About the Author

American Henry James was born and raised in New York City in 1843. His father was a prominent social theorist and intellectual who frequently traveled across Europe, and Henry and his brother William often accompanied him on these trips. Henry was exposed to this European society from a young age, and his fascination with the decadence and sophistication of Europe in comparison to the shiny optimism and sincerity of American is apparent in many of his works. Early on in his writing career, James moved to Europe and even became a British citizen in 1915 because he disagreed with America’s decision not to become involved with the First World War.

His novels The American , The Europeans , and Daisy Miller were all written with a mind to psychological realism, but it was not until the 1880s that he wrote The Portrait of a Lady , often considered his greatest novel. Critics sometimes voiced the opinion that James’s work was uneventful, or too slow-paced, but others delighted in his style of writing, which they cited as being elegant, concise, and fluid.

Despite James’s obvious delight in observing and noting the interaction of humans in society, he was a shy and socially removed individual who did not keep many close friends. He was never married and very open about his decision to choose a life of celibacy. He was a prolific writer and produced over 100 books in 40 years of writing, including some of his most well-known works, The Turn of the Screw and The Wings of the Dove .

The Portrait of a Lady

Generally considered Henry James’s finest piece of writing, The Portrait of a Lady was first written in the 1880s. A great lover of observing human behavior in society, James centers the novel on the conflict between American individualism and European custom, following the lives of American characters living in Europe. The young Isabel Archer is confident, independent, and well-read and is regarded in her home town of Albany, New York as too intimidating a woman for eligible men to pursue. Shortly after the death of her father, her American aunt Mrs. Touchett comes to invite Isabel to accompany her back to Europe. Isabel jumps at the chance and is soon turning down offers of marriage from British suitor Mr. Warburton and spurning the affections of her cousin Ralph in favor of maintaining her independence.

When Mr. Touchett’s health declines and he eventually dies, he leaves half his wealth to Isabel, rendering her a woman of independent means. Madame Merle befriends Isabel, her interest in their friendship piqued by Isabel’s inheritance, and accompanies Mrs. Touchett and Isabel to Florence. Madame Merle introduces her friend to Gilbert Osmond, building him up as a fine man of taste and devoted to the arts, despite the fact that he has no social standing or wealth of his own. Little does Isabel know that Madame Merle is romantically involved with Osmond and has plans to access Isabel’s fortune by persuading her to marry him. Isabel does marry him, despite the disapproval of those around her, and moves to live with him and his daughter Pansy in Rome. As Isabel and Osmond grow to detest each other more and more every day, Isabel attempts to save Pansy from marrying the wrong man, infuriating Osmond in the process because his daughter has rejected a wealthy suitor.

When Isabel hears that Ralph is ill, Osmond demands that she stay in Rome and not visit her cousin. After wrestling with the duty she feels toward her husband and her adherence to social propriety, she eventually decides to go to Ralph in England. She is even more resolved to do so when she finds out, to her horror, that Pansy is actually Madame Merle’s daughter. When Ralph dies, Isabel has to decide whether to honor her duty to her husband and return to Rome, even though the independent part of her tells her to flee and never return. Ultimately, Isabel feels the stronger pull of societal duty, the promise she made to her stepdaughter, and the weight of her marriage commitment to Osmond, and returns to Rome.