The Portrait of a Lady

ThisSecondNortonCriticalEditionofoneofHenryJames'smostimportantnovelsisthatoftheNewYorkEdition(1908).Inasense,therearetwodistinctlyseparatePortraits--the1880-81firsteditionandtheNewYorkedition,whichJamesextensivelyrevised.Theeditorhasmeticu-louslypreparedalistoftextualvariants,enablingcomparativereadingofthenovel.NinaBaym,F.O.Matthiessen,andAn-thony].Mazzellaprovidedifferingperspectiveson]ames'srevi-sionprocess."HenryJamesandtheNovel"cullsautobiographicalexcerptsfromJames'sotherwritings--hisNotebooks;theintentionallyautobiographicalASmallBoyandOthersandNotesofaSonandBrother;andthetravelbooksItalyRevised,ARomanHoliday,andRomanRides."CcmtemporaryReviewsandCriticism"providesbothchrono-logicalandcriticalperspectiveonThePortraitofaLady.Fourre-viewsfrom1882outlinethenovel'sinitialcriticalreception.Sevenimportantessaysfromtheperiod1954-91providevariedcriticalresponsesbyDorothyVanGhent,WilliamH.Gass,Lau-renceB.Holland,CharlesFeidelson,LouisAuchincloss,WilliamVeeder,andMillicentBell."BiographicalAids"includesjudiciouslychosensecondaryworksonJamesfromthewealthofmaterialpublishedyearly.