The Master and the Dean: The Literary Criticism of Henry James and William Dean Howells (Volume 1)

Henry James (1843–1916) and William Dean Howells (1837–1920) are best known for the central roles they played as nineteenth-century American novelists, penning such classics as James’s Portrait of a Lady and Howells’s The Rise of Silas Lapham. Their importance as literary critics, however, has been underplayed for decades. Although certain aspects of James’s and Howells’s criticism have been carefully considered—James’s “Prefaces” and Howells’s Criticism and Fiction, for example—no scholar has previously undertaken a comprehensive comparative study of their respective critical oeuvres. In The Master and the Dean, Rob Davidson presents the first book-length study of James’s literary criticism to be published since the early 1980s and the first-ever book-length study of Howells’s criticism. Considering Howells’s commonly accepted position among scholars as the most influential American literary critic of the period, such a study is long overdue. Beginning with a detailed examination of the European and domestic sources that led James and Howells toward realism, Davidson examines the interrelationships between the two writers, with special emphasis on their diverging aesthetic concerns and attitudes toward the market and audience, their beliefs concerning the moral value of fiction and the United States as a literary subject, and their various writings about each other. A rigorous, intertextual reading of their work as critics reveals both deeper rifts and more intimate similarities between the two writers than have been recognized previously. Of special note is Davidson’s careful attention to the frequently overlooked final two decades of Howells’s career. This close look at the lesser-known critical work of James and Howells will appeal both to scholars of the period and to anyone seeking an exceptional introduction to a crucially important era of American literary criticism. Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Abbreviations......Page 12 The Undiscovered Country......Page 16 I. The Literary Criticism of Henry James and William Dean Howells, 1859–1884......Page 24 James, Howells, and the Roots of American Realism......Page 26 Criticism and Correspondence I......Page 50 3. James’s “The Art of Fiction” in Critical Context......Page 64 II. The Literary Criticism of Henry James and William Dean Howells, 1885–1897......Page 86 4. Defining the Critic in the “Editor’s Study” and “The Science of Criticism”......Page 88 Social, Ethical, and Moral Concerns in the Criticism of Howells and James, 1886–1895......Page 113 Criticism and Correspondence II......Page 144 III.The Literary Criticism of Henry James and William Dean Howells, 1898–1920......Page 174 Defining the Writer, the Novel, and the Critic in the Twentieth Century......Page 176 8. James’s Prefaces to the New York Edition......Page 208 9. Howells’s Literary Criticism in the “Editor’s Easy Chair” and Heroines of Fiction......Page 239 Criticism and Correspondence III......Page 271 Bibliography......Page 298 C......Page 306 F......Page 307 H......Page 308 J......Page 310 K......Page 311 S......Page 312 Z......Page 313 A horror of dogma : James, Howells, and the roots of American realism Young Americans : criticism and correspondence I James's "The art of fiction" in critical context Defining the critic in the "Editor's study" and "The science of criticism" "The honest daylight about us" : social, ethical, and moral concerns in the criticism of Howells and James, 1886-1895 "American chances and opportunities" : criticism and correspondence II The man of letters as a man of business : defining the writer, the novel, and the critic in the twentieth century James's prefaces to the New York edition Howells's literary criticism in the "Editor's easy chair" and Heroines of fiction On native grounds : criticism and correspondence III. 'Comparative study of Henry James's and William Dean Howells's literary criticism. Examines the interrelationship between the men, emphasizing their aesthetic concerns and attitudes toward the market and audience, and their beliefs concerning the moral value of fiction and the United States as a literary subject, and writings about each other'--Provided by publisher.