The Portrait of a Lady (Everyman's Library) - Softcover

James, Henry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0460875884 ISBN 13: 9780460875882

Publisher: Everymans Library, 1995

Synopsis

When Isabel Archer, a young American woman with looks, wit, and imagination, arrives in Europe, she sees the world as `a place of brightness, of free expression, of irresistible action'. She turns aside from suitors who offer her their wealth and devotion to follow her own path. But that way leads to disillusionment and a future as constricted as `a dark narrow alley with a dead wall at the end'. In a conclusion that is one of the most moving in modern fiction, Isabel makes her final choice. The Portrait of a Lady is the masterpiece of James's middle period, and Isabel is perhaps his most engaging central character. This edition provides a challenging new introduction and detailed notes; the text is that of the New York Edition and includes Henry James's own Preface.

About this title

Book Description

The Cambridge Edition of The Portrait of a Lady (1881) offers the most authoritative and most comprehensively annotated text of Henry James's first masterpiece. Extensive textual variants provide complete collation of all published versions since its first appearance in serial form through the New York edition of 1908.

From the Publisher

Founded in 1906 by J.M. Dent, the Everyman Library has always tried to make the best books ever written available to the greatest number of people at the lowest possible price. Unique editorial features that help Everyman Paperback Classics stand out from the crowd include: a leading scholar or literary critic's introduction to the text, a biography of the author, a chronology of her or his life and times, a historical selection of criticism, and a concise plot summary. All books published since 1993 have also been completely restyled: all type has been reset, to offer a clarity and ease of reading unique among editions of the classics; a vibrant, full-color cover design now complements these great texts with beautiful contemporary works of art. But the best feature must be Everyman's uniquely low price. Each Everyman title offers these extensive materials at a price that competes with the most inexpensive editions on the market-but Everyman Paperbacks have durable binding, quality paper, and the highest editorial and scholarly standards.

Edition details

• Publisher: Everymans Library
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0460875884
• ISBN 13: 9780460875882
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 640
• Editor: Walton Priscilla L.