Henry James Books

A young Cabell weaves tales (annotated by authorities (?) of the era) spinning tales of some of the descendants (lineal and "spiritual")(and their consequences)that enrich the History of Dom Manuel of Poictesme. And outlines one of the characteristic approaches taken by the male in his inevitable pursuit of "Domnei".

These ten stories are attributed to Nicolas de Caen who wrote them in 1470 while serving as the priest and secretary to Philippe, Duke of Burgundy. The stories begin in the 13th century and end in the early years of the 15th. During this time the English Kings are struggling to retain their French possessions. In the "Sestina" chapter, Alianora of Provence, the wife of King Henry III, enlists the aid of Osmund Heleigh to help her secure the escape of her son Prince Edward whom the barons have imprisoned. The bookish Osmund helps her with disasterous consequences to himself. In the "Tenson" chapter, Prince Edward defeats the barons at the Battle of Evesham, after which he goes to Spain to get his wife Ellinor who he married ten years earlier. Several try to get him to set aside his claim to her with dire consequences for his opponents. In the "Rat-Trap" chapter, Prince Edward, now Edward I, arranged to marry Blanch, daughter of King Philippe of France. When he goes to France, King Philippe has second thoughts about the marriage and arranges to have Edward assassinated. Edward discovers the plot and humiliates the French king then departs France with a wife but her name is not Blanch. In "Choices," Queen Ysabeau spends a holiday toying with Sir Gregory Darrell and Rosamund Eastney. In "Housewife," Queen Phillipa, wife of Edward III thwarts a conspiracy against him and inspires the English army to defeat the Scottish forces invading England. In "Satraps," Dame Anne of Bohemia, wife to Richard II, prevents Richard's uncles from placing his brother Edward Maudlain on the throne by having Edward M. leave the court and go into hiding. In "Heritage," Edward Maudlain with the help of Richard II's 11 year old wife, Isobel Valois, takes his brother's place in prison and is slain, after which Henry of Derby becomes King Henry IV. In "Scabbard," the deposed Richard II changes his surname to Holland and makes a long tour of the continent. On his return to England, he has a chance to recover his usurped throne but opts to settle in Wales at Caer Idion, marry a peasant girl named Branwen and become a shepherd. In the "Navarrese," Antoine Riczi remains loyal to Princess Jehane de Navarre. In the "Fox-Brush," King Henry V traveling incognito in France as Alain Maquedonnieux the Irish harpist, kills a fox near the Convent of Chartres and has a chance meeting with Lady Katherine the Fair. He falls in love with her, and after an angst-filled courtship they become betrothed in the Cathedral of Troyes. In his "Epilogue," Nicolas de Caen gives the authorities for his tales and apologizes for being unable to confirm solidly the facts of the first three tales. As the events in the tales take place, the Hundred Years War blossoms and the seeds for the War of the Roses are sown.

This was a very excellent book & I had a hard time putting it down to do my chores. Very well worth the purchase!

If you are looking for just a simple book of classic ghost stories, thie this is a good book to buy. Cheap and small it contains works by classic authors. Not a a bad buy at all

This book has a lot of information covering the age of Henry VIII, the Tudor King of England in the early part of the 16th century. There is information regarding the fashion styles of his wives, sisters, and children. I would suggest this book for those who are into researching this time period for costuming, and who can form their own conclusions on the research provided. I would not suggest this book for those looking for a how-to on costume creation.

I looked forward to this book for over a year, and ... was a little frustrated when I was able to read some of the sections. There is a lot of info waiting for the reader, from the written inventories that survive that is given in the appendix. There are a number of images of interest, most of which I have seen in other books I've collected, but here they are available in one book, some of which are in color (most are in b&w).

One of my frustrations dealt with three images that provide a front, side and back view of a man's extant short gown; the kind of gown Henry is commonly seen wearing. But there is only a one sentence mention (that I've found so far) of these photos of this surviving garment, and that one sentence says very little. If these are of a surviving garment, and the garment is still available to look at, then it would have been a lot more help to people to actually provide info on the inside view, or how the pleats are attached, or something more than the one little sentence and three photos. I do appreciate those three photos, tho. I've not seen them anywhere else, and I can't even find them online at the museum they are in (but that server connection keeps dying, so I can't explore for long).

Another area I had issues with covered fur collars and capes, and the author cited another author's article on this. I've had the pleasure of meeting Prof. Tawny Sherrill ("Fleas, Fur, and Fashion: Zibellini as Luxury Accessories of the Renaissance"). Ms Sherrill in her scholarly article proved the term of "flea furs" as being a Victorian term, not a word that's really appropriate to the use or wearing of furs (especially zibellini - the point of Sherrill's article), but Ms. Howard not only cites Sherrill's article, but continues to use the "flea fur" term, perpetuating this costuming myth to her readers.

Another area; Ms Hayward goes into commentary of later women's dress... and suggests a new masculine style of bodice, possibly a doublet with what is modernly called a "Medici collar", although she admits that none of the records has any entries for women's doublets. I've done Tudor costume and research for awhile. To me the two images she offers appear to be the standard gown with a high necked partlet of black that is a different material than the gown. The third portrait appears to be a long loose gown. The only thing all three have in common is the style of their collars. If there is possible support for a doublet style, she should have provided some more info to prove this, especially since she does cover partlets as a garment item, so she is aware of them.

These items have cast a shadow of doubt over the rest of Ms. Howard's conclusions in her book.

On the good side so far (as I am still reading this book... it is pretty extensive). There are aspects that I've not seen elsewhere, like the original transcriptions for the Wardrobe accounts from different time periods of Henry's reign. There are a few images I've not seen elsewhere, either, including the extant garment images I've mentioned. I really like the inventory listing in the back. This is nice, and similar to the inventory listing in QEWU. I can't wait to get into reading this further.

Maria's conclusions at a few points are a bit... stretched, as I've already mentioned. But the amount of info included, including a break down of different garments by name vs the years they are worn, and a color chart and fabric chart that is similar. The new images, some other quotes and comments found from other original sources, and more, are things that are not found in other books I've read.

The book author states this book was done in the style of Janet Arnold's "Queen Elizabeth Wardrobe Unlock'd". There are a lot of good and well researched information from various written texts, surviving textiles, and the inventory transcripts... but there are aspects that have left me a bit frustrated considering the updated research that is available today.

I just recently got this book, and am just loving it. Much Like Elizabeth I's Wardrobe Un'locked, it drips with all the information I love to read. As a Costumer, it gives deeper insight into creating accurate costumes. When I first fell in Love with the Tudor Era, I didnt realize just how little REAL information there was to the construction, fabrics, the real names of pieces of clothing and such. This really lays out the details of who, what and where. I will be able to use this resource for many years to come.

While this slim volume is very strikingly put together, it serves only as an introduction to the man and his work; in point of fact, it is listed on the back of the book as one in the "Thames and Hudson Literary Lives".


With 130 illustrations to accompany the text a cursory introduction to Henry James, his times, and his work, can at best be had. At the end of the volume a chronology of his life is listed and further volumes in print on "the Master" are listed. All of this is very helpful to the reader interested in only a thumbnail sketch of James's life. Any real depth of interest will cause the reader to move on to Leon Edel's classic and standard 5-volume biography which saw print from the mid 1950's through the early 1970's. These volumes are yet available in either hardcover or softcover from sellers.

Though James had many acquaintances among the world's writers of his time he remained always rather a distant, distinct artist on his own. He had an up and down relationship with H.G. Wells which eventually broke down beyond repair, and though he knew Robert Louis Stevenson slightly it was not until RLS was dying in the same nursing home where James's sister, Alice, was also meeting death that they spent some time together. Therefore, Stevenson and James did at that late time establish a friendship of sorts but they had not been life long friends, and it quickly came to end with R.L. Stevenson's death. While true he knew many writers such as Flaubert, Zola, George Eliot, John Ruskin, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Dean Howells among others, most of that was early in his career, and Ivan Turgenev was the writer he knew best and revered the most. Later writers such as H. G. Wells were a breed he did not understand nor care for in general.

One of the more interesting facts brought out in this slim volume, is the 5 year period late 1800's early 1900's that James attempted to write and place his output on the stage as plays. The attempt never got going and he eventually turned back to book writing, reaching what is known as his 'golden age' comprised by the novels, The Wings of a Dove, The Golden Bowl, and The American. Though these books were a critical success, he had reached a point shortly before death of being close to impoverishment. Through the efforts of Edith Wharton, his neighbor-friend-fellow writer at Rye, who did it without Henry's knowledge, $8,000.00 of HER royalties were channeled to Henry James from Scribners as an 'advance' on his next book. Eventually Henry caught on to what Mrs. Wharton was doing and put a stop to it.

Interestingly, shortly after his death one of the last two novels he finished before his death in 1916 did become in the 1920's a very successful play on the English stage. He eventually succeeded on the stage after his death without trying! Through the 1920's and 1930's Henry James was pretty much a forgotten author, only after WWII did he again return to both the readers and critics attention.

With the author's interesting and pleasing style of writing coupled with the pictures and letters, this is a very fine introduction to Henry James and his life.

Recommended.

Semper Fi.

I was pleasantly surprised by this short, illustrated biography titled Henry James. My interest was maintained throughout, and I have subsequently begun reading again some novels by James. The life of Henry James is particularly well-documented as his extended family corresponded regularly and they all carefully preserved their letters.

Henry James was seemingly acquainted with nearly all noted writers of his period. Although they were two very different writers, Henry James and Robert Louis Stevenson greatly admired each other's works and were long time friends. James found Gustave Flaubert to be "simple, honest, kindly, and touchingly inarticulate". Henry James retained a lifelong admiration of Ivan Turgenev. Other friends included Stephen Crane, Joseph Conrad, and especially Edith Wharton.

I enjoyed the descriptive text, but it is really the photographs that make this biography so fascinating. Drawing upon a rich set of contemporary photos, the author, Harry Thornton Moore, paints a vivid portrait of the nineteenth century. It is as though we are seeing America and Europe through the eyes of Henry James himself.

The appendix includes a descriptive list of about 120 illustrations and photos, and provides a useful index that locates various references within the text to many literary works by James. I recommend this short, illustrated biography as a fascinating introduction to Henry James and his literary world.

You get the impression that you are shortchanged at the end on several of his stories; some endings do not bring a lot of satisfaction. Others float here and there without really getting anywhere and there's rarely any action. But when it does occur it's usually at the end. It's not to say that I really do not like Henry James, quite the contrary. I like him because he shows the values that were important in his time. And there is enough variation in the stories to make it worth purchasing and reading. This is a book to bring on vacation. You can read through one story in about two sitting depending on how fast you read. The type is a bit small for me, it would be nice if it were a bit bigger.

This book was purchased as part of the required reading of selected short stories for a Retirement Learning at Vanderbilt course on the art of the short story.

The book is a nice size with excellent type and format and is one of a series of Henry James' short stories catalogued by date. The book has a classy look and has additional information about the other books in the series and lists the stories in each.

There is a wonderful Chronology in the back of the book which tells all about Henry James, his travels and life in general.

The only draw back is that the pages are thin so the book can hold a lot and they can sometimes be a little difficult to separate when turning.

All in all a great volume at a modest price.

Henry James, packaged in a beautiful book, with dark print on white pages, is the king of the nuance. To read him, you slow down, you enter his world, a scene of dusk and mood and marrow and sorrow. A novel as sweet as the vision of a cool bath in a marble tub, in a darkened chamber, in a hot land. Characters who sometimes do not get exactly what they want even though they want it. One far removed from current events and politics and global warming and death-defying high wire acts of short-sighted greed which are all net and no tightrope. Far removed and yet existing at the core where the personal is burnt into the societal and where a man sitting on an ottoman while a woman stands next to a fireplace predicts the ruin of the state.

I enjoyed "Washington Square" thoroughly. I believe any highschool student should read this if they are looking for a "book" report. I found it captivating and I couldn't put the book down. However I was a little disappointed in how the ending turned out, but what can I do?

This is a great book for kids and adults alike. I recently reread this book, and having just finished it and refreshed my memory I am reminded of the great writing, plot, and charcters in this book. The story tells of a time when gangsters ruled Chicago and owned nightclubs and practically conrtolled the musicians who work for them. Paulie Horvath gets mixed up in the wild new style of music, Jazz. I recommend this book to anyone.
Two thumbs up!!!

This YA novel is a well-written and engrossing look into the Chicago jazz scene of the late 1920s. 12-year-old Paulie (who today would probably be diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder) finds his calling in learning to play jazz cornet. But his father wants him to enter the plumbing business, and even with his mother's support, Paulie can't keep his grades up enough to get permission to pursue his music. Paulie eventually has to choose -- lose his music, or lose his family? Published in 1996, this YA novel is now, sadly, out of print.

Not your average children's book, this strange story of a hypochondriac who saves the day, is well-written and engaging. For anyone who has felt a little different from their peers, this story will strike home. The amusement park scenes are particularly humorous.

Johnny Germ Head is a rollicking, well-illustrated book. The author has done a fine job capturing the phobias and obsessions of children. Our hero is forced to confront his fears when called upon by dangerous circumstances. I look forward to more from this author.

This is an exceptionally smart and provocative book. McGurl presents an elegant theory to account for the distinctive formal features of various American modernists (James, Crane, Wharton, Faulkner, Hammett, among others). At the heart of McGurl's theory is the notion, inspired by Pierre Bourdieu, that artists wage a "war of position" to acquire cultural capital. The artist who can earn recognition for being the most "advanced" vis a vis rivals will win the struggle for prestige, and earn returns in the form of formal stylistic innovation and career success (sometimes posthumous). To substantiate this theory of literary production, McGurl makes fascinating connections between the formal features of particular literary works and the struggle for prestige. In broadest terms, he argues that these proto-modernists and modernists transform "low" social materials (Crane's city slums or Faulkner's backwater South, for instance) into "high" literary form that only intellectual insiders can appreciate.

Although McGurl presents his argument in a persuasive (and witty) way, in my view this Bourdieu-inspired perspective misses some of the most important aspects of these works. Even when authors were trying to win literary prestige, they were also trying to use the distinct modes of insight available in art to try to understand the social worlds they examine. Bourdieu's model reaches a kind of limit once it assumes that literary works merely transmute social materials into literary matter (formal style and authorial career) *only,* with no social dimension at all left over. McGurl's book, as compelling as it is, presents us with writers who are finally indifferent to any of the social questions they write about: economic deprivation, racial conflict, sociality, and so on. But in reality, it's hard for me to imagine these writers were motivated to write solely by the desire for prestige, and not because they believed (plausibly, to my mind) that they could really explore and understand some of these social questions by writing about them in novels.

While McGurl's adherence to Bourdieu imposes some limits, however, it also opens up some astute insights about style and form. McGurl has a gift for offering deft, lucid formations of very large literary movements.

Although we've left the 20th century behind, the literature of this era has a truly unique position within the context of critical history. Mark McGurl outlines with irrefutable clarity the rare role authors of this period played in developing writing in the form of novels into an indubitable artform. While at once an obvious assumption made by today's standards, McGurl traces the development of modern conception throughout the century, reminding the reader contemporary thought was at one point revolutionary. Fascinating, compelling, and brilliantly written, The Novel Art is a must-have addition to any literature student's collection.

This book isn't so much a reference as a travelogue of interesting and unusual sites to visit in New England. The combination of history, folklore and fact make this an enjoyable ride for anyone from or interested in New England.

The history of Mr. Chenoweth's narrative is not the stuff of nations & civilizations, but rather that which illuminates the circumstance, the event changed by chance, and most especially our humanity, displayed in its rich and varied individuality. This is a book to be enjoyed in a pensive moment, one in which we can reflect on its stories, on ourselves, our friends and on human nature generally. I enjoyed it immensely, and I think it will be enjoyed by all who can smile at themselves