Edith Wharton: Collected Stories Vol 1. 1891-1910 (LOA #121) (Library of America Edith Wharton Edition)

Library of America presents the first volume in a landmark two-volume collector's edition of the incomparable stories of an American master Born into an upper-class New York family, Edith Wharton broke with convention and became a professional writer, earning an enduring place as the grande dame of American letters. This Library of America collection (along with its companion volume, Collected Stories: 1911–1937 ) presents the finest of Wharton's achievement in short fiction, drawn from the more than eighty stories she published over the course of her career. Opening with her first published story—the charming "Mrs. Manstey's View," about a disruption in the life of an elderly apartment-dweller—this first of two volumes presents a writer, already at the height of her powers, beginning to explore the concerns of a lifetime. In "Souls Belated," two lovers attempt to escape the consequences of their adultery—a subject to which Wharton returns throughout her career. In "The Mission of Jane" (about a remarkable adopted child) and "The Pelican" (about an itinerant lecturer), she discovers her gift for social and cultural satire. Perhaps the finest of her ghost stories, "The Eyes," with its Jamesian sense of evil, is also included, along with two novella-length works, "The Touchstone" and "Sanctuary," revealing the dazzling range of Wharton's fictive imagination. Also included in this edition are a chronology of Wharton's life, explanatory notes, and an essay on the texts. LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries. Over the course of a long and astonishingly productive literary career that stretched from the early 1890s to just before World War II, Edith Wharton published nearly a dozen story collections, leaving a body of work as various as it is enduring. With this two-volume set, The Library of America presents the finest of Wharton's achievement in short fiction: 67 stories drawn from the entire span of her writing life, including the novella-length works The Touchstone, Sanctuary, and Bunner Sisters, eight shorter pieces never collected by Wharton, and many stories long out-of-print.Her range of setting and subject matter is dazzling, and her mastery of style consistently sure. Here are all the aspects of Wharton's art: her satire, sometimes gentle, sometimes dark and despairing, of upper-class manners; her unblinking recognition of the power of social convention and the limits of passion; her merciless exposure of commercial motivations; her candid exploration of relations between the sexes. The stories range with cosmopolitan ease from her native New York to the salons and summer hotels of Newport, Paris, and the Italian lakes. The depth of her response to World War I is registered in such works as "The Marne". Of particular interest are the remarkable stories which treat occult and supernatural themes rarely encountered in her novels, such as the classic ghost stories "The Eyes" and "Pomegranate Seed". "With this volume (a companion to Collected Stories 1911-1937), The Library of America presents the finest of Wharton's achievement in short fiction, drawn from the more than eighty stories she published over the course of her career. Here, in settings familiar and exotic, are all of Wharton's characteristic qualities and themes: her candid exploration of relations between the sexes; her satire, sometimes gentle, sometimes despairing, of social class and its distinctions; her keen-eyed observation of the minutiae of character; her unflinching recognition of the power of conventional morality and the limits of passion, tempered by her delightful sense of play."--BOOK JACKET Mrs. Manstey's view The fulness of life The lamp of psyche The valley of childish things, and other emblems The muse's tragedy A journey The pelican Souls belated The twilight of the God A cup of cold water The touchstone The Duchess at prayer The angel at the grave The recovery The Rembrandt The moving finger Sanctuary The descent of man The mission of Jane The other two The reckoning Expiation The lady's maid's bell The house of the dead hand The introducers The hermit and the wild woman The last asset The pretext The pot-boiler The best man His father's son The daunt Diana The debt Full circle The legend The eyes Afterward The letters. Contains 38 stories: Afterward Angel At the Grave Best Man Cup of Cold Water Daunt Diana Debt Descent of Man Duchess At Prayer Expiation Eyes Full Circle Fulness of Life Hermit and the Wild Woman His Father's Son House of the Dead Hand Introducers Journey Lady's Maid's Bell Lamp of Psyche Last Asset Legend Letters Mission of Jane Moving Finger Mrs. Manstey's View Muse's Tragedy Other Two Pelican Pot-Boiler Pretext Reckoning Recovery Rembrandt Sanctuary Souls Belated Touchstone Twilight of the God Valley of Childish Things, and Other Emblems