The Birthplace (1903)

By Henry James

This early work by Henry James was originally published in 1903 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. Henry James was born in New York City in 1843. One of thirteen children, James had an unorthodox early education, switching between schools, private tutors and private reading.. James published his first story, 'A Tragedy of Error', in the Continental Monthly in 1864, when he was twenty years old. In 1876, he emigrated to London, where he remained for the vast majority of the rest of his life, becoming a British citizen in 1915. From this point on, he was a hugely prolific author, eventually producing twenty novels and more than a hundred short stories and novellas, as well as literary criticism, plays and travelogues. Amongst James's most famous works are The Europeans (1878), Daisy Miller (1878), Washington Square (1880), The Bostonians (1886), and one of the most famous ghost stories of all time, The Turn of the Screw (1898). We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Apr 3, 2016
• ISBN: 9781473366183

Henry James

Henry James (1843-1916) was an American author of novels, short stories, plays, and non-fiction. He spent most of his life in Europe, and much of his work regards the interactions and complexities between American and European characters. Among his works in this vein are The Portrait of a Lady (1881), The Bostonians (1886), and The Ambassadors (1903). Through his influence, James ushered in the era of American realism in literature. In his lifetime he wrote 12 plays, 112 short stories, 20 novels, and many travel and critical works. He was nominated three times for the Noble Prize in Literature.

Book preview

THE BIRTHPLACE

BY

HENRY JAMES

Copyright © 2013 Read Books Ltd.

This book is copyright and may not be

reproduced or copied in any way without

the express permission of the publisher in writing

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Contents

Henry James

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Henry James

Henry James was born in New York City in 1843. One of thirteen children, James had an unorthodox early education, switching between schools, private tutors and private reading. In 1855, the James family embarked on a three year-long trip to Geneva, London, and Paris; an experience that greatly influenced his decision, some years later, to emigrate to Europe. Having returned to America, and having met prominent authors and thinkers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, James turned seriously to writing.

James published his first story, ‘A Tragedy of Error’, in the Continental Monthly in 1864, when he was twenty years old. In 1876, he emigrated to London, where he remained for the vast majority of the rest of his life, becoming a British citizen in 1915. From this point on, he was a hugely prolific author, eventually producing twenty novels and more than a hundred short stories and novellas, as well as literary criticism, plays and travelogues. Amongst James’s most famous works are The Europeans (1878), Daisy Miller (1878), Washington Square (1880), The Bostonians (1886), and one of the most famous ghost stories of all time, The Turn of the Screw (1898). James’ personal favourite, of all his works, was the 1903 novel The Ambassadors. He is regarded by modern-day critics as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism, and one of the greatest American authors of all-time.

James’ autobiography appeared in three volumes between 1914 and 1917. He died following a stroke in February of 1916, aged 72.

1

It seemed to them at first, the offer, too good to be true, and their friend’s letter, addressed to them to feel, as he said, the ground, to sound them as to inclinations and possibilities, had almost the effect of a brave joke at their expense. Their friend, Mr Grant-Jackson, a highly preponderant, pushing person, great in discussion and arrangement, abrupt in overture, unexpected, if not perverse, in attitude, and almost equally acclaimed and objected to in the wide midland region to which he had taught, as the phrase was, the size of his foot – their friend had launched his bolt quite out of the blue and had thereby so shaken them as to make them fear almost more than hope. The place had fallen vacant by the death of one of the two ladies, mother and daughter, who had discharged its duties for fifteen years; the daughter was staying on alone, to accommodate, but had found, though extremely mature, an opportunity of marriage that involved retirement, and the question of the new incumbents was not a little pressing. The want thus determined was of a united couple of some sort, of the right sort, a pair of educated and competent sisters possibly preferred, but a married pair having its advantage if other qualifications were marked. Applicants, candidates, besiegers of the door of everyone supposed to have a voice in the matter, were already beyond counting, and Mr Grant-Jackson, who was in his way diplomatic and whose voice, though not perhaps of the loudest, possessed notes of insistence, had found his preference fixing itself on some person or brace of persons who had been decent and dumb. The Gedges appeared to have struck him as waiting in silence – though absolutely, as happened, no busybody had brought them, far away in the north, a hint either of bliss or of danger; and the happy spell, for the rest, had obviously been wrought in him by a remembrance which, though now scarcely fresh, had never before borne any such fruit.

Morris Gedge had for a few years, as a young man, carried on a small private school of the order known as preparatory, and had happened then to receive under his roof the small son of the great man, who was not at that time so great. The little boy, during an absence of his parents from England, had been dangerously ill, so dangerously that they had been recalled in haste, though with inevitable delays, from a far country – they had gone to America, with the whole continent and the great sea to cross again – and had got back to find the child saved, but saved, as couldn’t help coming to light, by the extreme devotion and perfect judgement of Mrs Gedge. Without children of her own, she had particularly attached herself to this tiniest and tenderest of her husband’s pupils, and they had both dreaded as a dire disaster the injury to their little enterprise that would be caused by their losing him. Nervous, anxious, sensitive persons, with a pride – as they were for that matter well aware – above their position, never, at the best, to be anything but dingy, they had nursed him in terror and had brought him through in exhaustion. Exhaustion, as befell, had thus overtaken them early and had for one reason and another managed to assert itself as their permanent portion. The little boy’s death would, as they said, have done for them, yet his recovery hadn’t saved them; with which it was doubtless also part of a shy but stiff candour in them that they didn’t regard themselves as having in a more indirect manner laid up treasure. Treasure was not to be, in any form whatever, of their dreams or of their waking sense; and the years that followed had limped under their weight, had now and then rather grievously stumbled, had even barely escaped laying them in the dust. The school had not prospered, had but dwindled to a close. Gedge’s health had failed, and, still more, every sign in him of a capacity to publish himself as practical. He had tried several things, he had tried many, but the final appearance was of their having tried him not less. They mostly, at the time I speak of, were trying his successors, while he found himself, with an effect of dull felicity that had come in this case from the mere postponement of change, in charge of the grey town-library of Blackport-on-Dwindle, all granite, fog and female fiction. This was a situation in which his general intelligence – acknowledged as his strong point – was doubtless conceived, around him, as feeling

Reviews for The Birthplace (1903)

[edwinbcn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Given the stature of Henry James as an author in Americal letters, his readership seems to focus on a narrow selection of his works, many some of the large novels, and a small selection of the novellas with very little variation. Of the short stories and novellas, only Daisy Miller, The Aspern Papers and The Turn of the Screw are widely read, while The Jolly Corner and The Beast in the Jungle are occasionally anthologized. However, Henry James wrote a vast number of short stories and novellas.In 2012, the Hesperus Press published a volume which brings together two short stories / novellas, namely The Birthplace and "The Private Life". The edition includes a foreword by Mark Rylance. This seems an unhappy choice. Mark Rylance is the author of two works on Shakespeare, and was probably selected because in The birthplace Henry James satirizes the personality cult around Shakespeare. The introduction is weak.The most well-known and most important book that is characterized by its use of capitalized personal pronouns is probably the Bible. Capitalization of pronouns, "He" and "Him" and "They" is also a prominent feature in The birthplace, out of reverence for an unnamed author, most likely meant to be Shakespeare.The birthplace is an entertaining satire about a couple of librarians who are chosen to become the guardians of the birthplace of a renowned author. The fact that little is known about the author, either in general or by them, does not seem to matter: the audience, the visitors, will either know better or believe any utterance. Likewise, the word of the previous guardian is taken as gospel.The second story, "The Private Life" is included with The birthplace for its assumed closeness in theme. "The Private Life" is about the contrast between a person's private appearance and public appearance. The story is much deeper felt, and more personal than its companion novella. Henry James is usually seen as an author who excels in large naturalistic and realistic description, but as the short story "The Real Thing" demonstrates, James was also interested in writing that can only be understood if the reader has an eye for symbolism."The Private Life" is an interesting exploration of symbolism, but Henry James does not explore it to the full limit. The story hinges on the proposition that some people have a "public persona" and a "private persona" who are actually two, physically identical individuals. In other people, the "public persona" is so "large" that the "private persona" is very small, actually less than one. However, this assertion is not tested. The suggestion is ingenious, and the story is meeted out very well to explore this idea.It seems that "The Private Life" is a story whicj in essence is very close to Henry James personal life, although the mirroring duality in the life of the author is different from the situation in the short story. Critics are undecided about the issue to what extent Henry James should be seen as a closeted homosexual. The meaning of "The Private Life" may perhaps be extended to understand the author's view of his public appearance and his private, inner self.The two short stories by Henry James are not often anthologized or read. The birthplace could be read as a curiosity, for all readers with a skeptical eye about the personality cultus around William Shakespeare. "The Private Life" is a story which is very interesting to be aware of, as it seems marginally related to "The Birthplace", but can, in other respects, create a better understanding of Henry James as an author. The non-realistic, symbolistic style of "The Private Life" is interesting, as it may help readers appreciate other work by James, such as The Turn of the Screw.