The Complete Letters of Henry James, 1878-1880: Volume 1

2022·7.39 MB·english

by  Greg W. Zacharias

The Complete Letters of Henry James
1878–1880
VOLUME 1
HJ
The Complete Letters of Henry James
GENERAL EDITORS
Pierre A. Walker, Salem State University, Greg W. Zacharias, Creighton University (Project Director)
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Roberta A. Sheehan (Boston), Katie Sommer (Omaha)
EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS
Michael Bick, Sandy Buntemeyer Fyfe, Elizabeth Hopwood, Jennifer Eimers, Josi Freire, Natalie
Gorup, Jamie Jamieson, Michelle McGauvran, Patrick Phillips, Jonathan Plumb, Kylie Regan,
Elizabeth Rice, Natalie Roxburgh, Jay Spina, Felicity White
EDITORIAL BOARD
Michael Anesko, The Pennsylvania State University; Millicent Bell, Boston University; Susan
Gunter, Westminster College (Salt Lake City); Steven Jobe, Hanover College (Indiana); George
Monteiro, Brown University; Rosella Mamoli Zorzi, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia
ADVISORY GROUP
Daniel Mark Fogel, University of Vermont; Robert Gale, University of Pittsburgh; Richard Hocks,
University of Missouri–Columbia; Philip Horne, University College London; Bay James, Newbury,
Massachusetts; Henry James, Dublin, New Hampshire; Fred Kaplan, City University of New York;
David McWhirter, Texas A&M University; Lyall H. Powers, University of Michigan; Roberta A.
Sheehan, Quincy, Massachusetts; Cheryl Torsney, University of Texas at El Paso; Ruth Bernard
Yeazell, Yale University
The Complete Letters
of
Henry James, 1878–1880
VOLUME 1
Henry James
Edited by Pierre A. Walker and
Greg W. Zacharias
With an introduction by Michael Anesko
University of Nebraska Press
Lincoln and London
© 2014 by the University of Nebraska Press
All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United
States of America. Set in Janson Text by Tseng
Information Systems, Inc. Book designer
R. Eckersley.
♾
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
James, Henry, 1843–1916.
[Correspondence. Selections]
The Complete Letters of Henry James, 1878–
1880 / edited by Pierre A. Walker and Greg W.
Zacharias ; with an introduction by Michael Anesko.
pages cm — (The Complete Letters of Henry James)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8032-5424-4 (v. 1 : cloth : alk. paper)
1. James, Henry, 1843–1916—Correspondence.
2. Authors, American—19th century—
Correspondence. 3. Authors, American—
20th century—Correspondence. I. Walker,
Pierre A., editor of compilation. II. Zacharias,
Greg W., 1958– editor of compilation. III. Title.
PS2123.A4 2014
813′.4—dc23 2013044469
To our families, colleagues, and friends, for the support
they have given us over the years for this project.

Contents
The Complete Letters of Henry James, 1878–1880, volume 1, contains 114 letters, of
which 58 are published for the first time. Each letter is followed by previous pub-
lication information or a note that there is no previous publication.
List of Illustrations xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction: The Real Career, the Larger Success,
(cid:24)by Michael Anesko xix
Symbols and Abbreviations xlvii
Chronology xlix
Errata lv
1878
October 3 To William Ernest Henley 3
October 4 To Alice James 4
October 4 To Thomas Sergeant Perry 5
[October 6] To William Ernest Henley 7
October 6 To Richard Monckton Milnes,
Lord Houghton 9
October 9 To Elizabeth Boott 10
October 11 To Frederick Macmillan 12
[October 11, 18, or 25 ]
To William Ernest Henley 13
October 18 To Henry James Sr. 14
October 24 To Henry James Sr. 19
October 27 To Mary Walsh James 23
October 27 To Frederick Macmillan 27
October 30 To Elizabeth Boott 28
November 9 To Richard von Hoffmann 33
November 14 To William James 36
November 17 To Charles Eliot Norton 40
November 17 To Mary Walsh James 45
November 17 To John Foster Kirk 48
[November 17?] To Frederick Macmillan 49
November 17 To Whitelaw Reid 50
November 24 To Elizabeth Boott 51
November 24 To Henry James Sr. 55
December 8 To Frederick Macmillan 57
December 9 To Alice James 58
December 10 To Henrietta Heathorn Huxley 63
December 21 To Moncure Daniel Conway 64
[December 25] To Elizabeth Boott 65
December 29 To William D. Hertz 68
December 29 To William Dean Howells 69
[December 31]–[January 1]
To Alice James 70
1879
January 4, [5] To Grace Norton 81
January 8 To James Payn and Louisa Edlin Payn 86
January 13 To James Bryce 87
January 15 To Julian Hawthorne 88
January 18 To Mary Walsh James 90
January 19 To Frederick Macmillan 97
[January 20] To Frederick Macmillan 98
[January 21] To Edward Smyth Pigott 99
January 22 To Julian Hawthorne 100
January 22 To Frederick Macmillan 101
January 31 To Mary Walsh James 102
February 5 To William Ernest Henley 105
February 11 To Elizabeth Boott 107
February 16 To George Grove 110
February 16, 17 To Alice James 111
[February 17] To Frederick Macmillan 115
February 18 To Frederick Macmillan 116
February 20 To Katherine “Kate” Fearing
Strong Welman 117
February 26 To Elizabeth Boott 118
February 26 To Frederick Macmillan 120
March 1 To Sarah Perkins Cleveland 121
March 4 To Fanny Hertz 123
March 4 To William James 124
March 5 To Louisa Lawrence 129
March 11 To Moncure Daniel Conway and
Ellen Davis Dana Conway 130
March 17 To Elizabeth Boott 131
March 17 To Fanny Hertz 132
March 17 To Frederick Macmillan 133
March 21 To Jane Dalzell Finlay Hill 134
March [23], 26 To Alice James 140
March 27 To Josiah Holland 145
April 7 To William Dean Howells 147
April 8 To Mary Walsh James 150
April 9 To William Ernest Henley 154
April 14 To Elizabeth Boott 156