Book Series Guide

Author guide

Henry James Books in Order

Henry James (1843–1916) was an American-born writer who spent much of his mature career in Europe and became a British subject in 1915. He is best known for novels including The Portrait of a Lady, The Bostonians, The Wings of the Dove, The Ambassadors, and The Golden Bowl, as well as novellas such as Daisy Miller, The Aspern Papers, and The Turn of the Screw. His extensive work also includes short-fiction collections, literary and visual-art criticism, travel writing, autobiographical memoirs, and numerous plays. James frequently revised his fiction for later collected editions, especially the New York Edition; this bibliography records distinct authored works and original book publications rather than later reprints or repackagings.

literary fictionnovelnovellashort fictionliterary criticismtravel writingmemoirdrama

Catalog record updated .

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Cover of Daisy Miller

Daisy Miller

A concise, accessible novella that introduces James's characteristic international and psychological themes.

Cover of The Turn of the Screw

The Turn of the Screw

A compact, atmospheric novella and a strong entry point into James's narrative ambiguity.

Cover of The Portrait of a Lady

The Portrait of a Lady

A major novel that presents James's mature treatment of consciousness, freedom, and social experience.

Outside the series

Bibliography by category

Novels (34)
  1. Watch and Ward

    novel · 1871

  2. Madame de Mauves

    novella · 1874

  3. Roderick Hudson

    novel · 1875

    Rowland Mallet, ein wohlhabender Kunstliebhaber, wird zum Mäzen des jungen Bildhauers Roderick Hudson, den er in der Enge der amerikanischen Provinz entdeckt und mit nach Europa nimmt. In der ersten Begeisterung über die Kunstwerke Roms…

  4. The American

    novel · 1877

    The text reprinted in this volume is based on an examination of the five printed versions of The American (first published in 1877) which appeared in James's lifetime, and it is preceded by his "Preface to the New York Edition" (1907).…

  5. The Europeans

    novel · 1878

    In the hope of making a wealthy marriage, Eugenia, the Baroness M©ơnster, and her younger brother, the artist Felix, descend on the Wentworths, in Boston. Installed in a nearby house, they become close friends with the younger Wentworths,…

  6. Daisy Miller

    novella · 1878

    Originally published in The Cornhill Magazine in 1878 and in book form in 1879, Daisy Miller brought Henry James his first widespread commercial and critical success. The young Daisy Miller, an American on holiday with her mother on the…

  7. An International Episode

    novella · 1878

  8. Confidence

    novel · 1879

    A Henry James classic.

  9. Washington Square

    novel · 1880

    With a new afterword by Michael CunninghamWhat Catherine Sloper lacks in brains and beauty, she makes up for by being "very good." The handsome Morris Townsend would do anything to win her hand-even if it means pretending that he loves…

  10. The Portrait of a Lady

    novel · 1881

    When Isabel Archer, a beautiful, spirited American, is brought to Europe by her wealthy Aunt Touchett, it is expected that she will soon marry. But Isabel, resolved to determine her own fate, does not hesitate to turn down two eligible…

  11. The Bostonians

    novel · 1886

    First published in 1886, The Bostonians is one of James' wittiest social satires. It begins with the arrival in Boston of Basil Ransom, in search of a career. The book turns on the relationship between Ransom, a conservative civil war…

  12. The Princess Casamassima

    novel · 1886

  13. The Aspern Papers

    novella · 1888

    How Far Would You Go Just To Nurture Your Obsession? “That was originally what I had loved him for: that at a period when our native land was nude and crude and provincial, when the famous 'atmosphere' it is supposed to lack was not even…

  14. The Reverberator

    novel · 1888

  15. The Tragic Muse

    novel · 1890

  16. The Lesson of the Master

    novella · 1888

  17. The Other House

    novel · 1896

  18. The Spoils of Poynton

    novel · 1897

    Roman.

  19. What Maisie Knew

    novel · 1897

    In the aftermath of an acrimonious divorce, young Maisie Farange finds herself shuttled back and forth between her father and mother, both of them amoral and monstrously self-involved. After her parents find new spouses -- and after the…

  20. In the Cage

    novella · 1898

    From the book: It had occurred to her early that in her position - that of a young person spending, in framed and wired confinement, the life of a guinea-pig or a magpie - she should know a great many persons without their recognising the…

  21. The Turn of the Screw

    novella · 1898

    The classic ghost story about a high-strung governess and the two young children who may--or may not--be plotting with the diabolical Peter Quint.

  22. The Awkward Age

    novel · 1899

    Nanda Brookenham is 'coming out' in London society. Thrust suddenly into the vicious, immoral circle that has gathered round her mother, she even finds herself in competition with Mrs Brookenham for the affection of the man she admires.…

  23. The Sacred Fount

    novel · 1901

    Reproduction of the original: The Sacred Fount by Henry James

  24. The Wings of the Dove

    novel · 1902

    Beautiful Kate Croy may have been left penniless by her relatives, but her bold, ambitious nature ensures she will not succumb meekly to a life of poverty. If the financial circumstances of Merton Densher, the man she is passionately in…

  25. The Beast in the Jungle

    novella · 1903

    The Beast in the Jungle is a short novel almost universally considered one of James' finest narratives. This story treats appropriately universal themes such as loneliness, fate, love and death.

  26. The Ambassadors

    novel · 1903

    Chad Newsome has gone to Paris. He is charmed by Old World fascinations and caught up in the leisurely craft and bohemian direction of European worldliness. An older woman of rank and adventurous but subtle skill, Madame de Vionnet,…

  27. The Golden Bowl

    novel · 1904

    The wealthy American widower Adam Verver and his shy daughter, Maggie, live in Europe, closely tied through their love of art and their mutual admiration. Maggie's future seems assured when she becomes the wife of a charming, though…

  28. Julia Bride

    novella · 1908

  29. The Jolly Corner

    novella · 1908

  30. The Outcry

    novel · 1911

  31. The Ivory Tower

    unfinished-novel · 1917

  32. The Sense of the Past

    unfinished-novel · 1917

  33. Gabrielle de Bergerac

    novella · 1918

  34. Travelling Companions

    novella · 1919

Nonfiction (11)
  1. Transatlantic Sketches

    travel-writing · 1875

  2. Portraits of Places

    travel-writing · 1883

  3. A Little Tour in France

    travel-writing · 1884

  4. Foreign Parts

    travel-writing · 1884

  5. William Wetmore Story and His Friends

    biography · 1903

  6. English Hours

    travel-writing · 1905

  7. The American Scene

    travel-writing · 1907

    A reprint of Henry James' "The America" that includes a textual history of the novel, background and source materials, and critical articles by James and others.

  8. Italian Hours

    travel-writing · 1909

    James's essays on Italy are remarkable for their humanity. Traveling extensively throughout the country, including Venice, Rome, and Florence, he presents a portrait of a beautiful but impoverished country and, while he appreciated the…

  9. A Small Boy and Others

    memoir · 1913

  10. Notes of a Son and Brother

    memoir · 1914

  11. The Middle Years

    memoir · 1917

Short fiction (19)
  1. A Passionate Pilgrim and Other Tales

    short-story-collection · 1875

  2. The Madonna of the Future and Other Tales

    short-story-collection · 1879

  3. The Diary of a Man of Fifty and A Bundle of Letters

    short-story-collection · 1880

  4. The Siege of London, The Pension Beaurepas, and The Point of View

    short-story-collection · 1883

  5. Tales of Three Cities

    short-story-collection · 1884

  6. Stories Revived

    short-story-collection · 1885

  7. The Author of Beltraffio, Pandora, Georgina's Reasons, The Path of Duty, Four Meetings

    short-story-collection · 1885

  8. The Aspern Papers, Louisa Pallant, The Modern Warning

    short-story-collection · 1888

  9. A London Life, The Patagonia, The Liar, Mrs. Temperly

    short-story-collection · 1889

  10. The Real Thing and Other Tales

    short-story-collection · 1893

  11. The Private Life, The Wheel of Time, Lord Beaupré, The Visits, Collaboration, Owen Wingrave

    short-story-collection · 1893

  12. Terminations

    short-story-collection · 1895

  13. Embarrassments

    short-story-collection · 1896

  14. The Two Magics

    short-story-collection · 1898

  15. The Soft Side

    short-story-collection · 1900

  16. The Better Sort

    short-story-collection · 1903

  17. The Finer Grain

    short-story-collection · 1910

  18. A Landscape Painter

    short-fiction · 1919

  19. Master Eustace

    short-fiction · 1920

Essays and speeches (7)
  1. French Poets and Novelists

    essays-and-criticism · 1878

  2. Partial Portraits

    essays-and-criticism · 1888

  3. Essays in London and Elsewhere

    essays-and-criticism · 1893

  4. Picture and Text

    essays-and-criticism · 1893

  5. The Question of Our Speech; The Lesson of Balzac. Two Lectures

    essays-and-criticism · 1905

  6. Notes on Novelists

    essays-and-criticism · 1914

  7. A Most Unholy Trade

    essays-and-criticism · 1925

Plays (14)
  1. Pyramus and Thisbe

    play · 1869

  2. Still Waters

    play · 1871

  3. A Change of Heart

    play · 1872

  4. Daisy Miller: A Comedy

    play · 1883

  5. The American: A Comedy in Four Acts

    play · 1890

  6. Theatricals: Two Comedies

    play-collection · 1894

  7. Guy Domville

    play · 1895

  8. Summersoft

    play · 1895

  9. Theatricals: Second Series

    play-collection · 1895

  10. The High Bid

    play · 1907

  11. The Saloon

    play · 1908

  12. The Other House

    play · 1908

  13. The Outcry

    play · 1909

  14. Monologue Written for Ruth Draper

    dramatic-monologue · 1913

Collaborations (1)
  1. The Whole Family

    collaborative-novel · 1908

Frequently asked questions about Henry James

When and where was Henry James born, and when did he die?

Henry James was born in New York City in 1843 and died in London in 1916.

Source: poetryfoundation.org (opens in a new tab)

Was Henry James American or British?

He was American-born and became a naturalized British subject in 1915. He is therefore often described as an Anglo-American or American-British writer.

Sources: poetryfoundation.org (opens in a new tab)encyclopedia.com (opens in a new tab)

What was Henry James known for in his career?

James was a novelist, short-story writer, literary critic, essayist, travel writer, memoirist, and playwright. His fiction is especially known for psychological depth, social observation, and transatlantic themes.

Sources: poetryfoundation.org (opens in a new tab)encyclopedia.com (opens in a new tab)

What influenced Henry James’s writing?

His cosmopolitan upbringing and extensive travel in Europe shaped his interest in cultural conflict and perspective. Literary influences included Nathaniel Hawthorne, English realism, and French writers such as Balzac, Flaubert, and Maupassant.

Sources: poetryfoundation.org (opens in a new tab)cambridge.org (opens in a new tab)

Did Henry James receive major awards, and what is his literary legacy?

King George V appointed James to the Order of Merit in January 1916, and the Nobel archive records four nominations for the Literature prize. His experiments with consciousness, limited perspective, and narrative ambiguity helped make him an important precursor of literary modernism.

Sources: thegazette.co.uk (opens in a new tab)nobelprize.org (opens in a new tab)cambridge.org (opens in a new tab)