Henry James's New York Edition : The Construction of Authorship

Toward the end of Henry James's career, Charles Scribner's Sons offered him the opportunity to publish his collected work in a single edition: The New York Edition of the Novels and Tales of Henry James.

James revised the texts extensively, wrote the prefaces that have become classic texts on prose aesthetics and the novelist's art, removed certain works, and even commissioned photographic frontispieces for each of the Edition's twenty-four volumes: a massive work of self-monumentalization.

This collection of essays explores the New York Edition from a wide range of perspectives.

Focusing on the Edition's complex array of textual features, including the revealing photographic frontispieces, on the history of its critical and public reception, and on the biographical, social, and publishing contexts in which it was produced, these essays demonstrate its value as a locus for current debates about both Henry James and the construction of authorship.