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

Wharton, Edith

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1883011930 ISBN 13: 9781883011932

Publisher: Library of America, 2001

Synopsis

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.

About this title

From the Publisher

Edith Wharton's full and glamorous life bridged two continents and two centuries. Born into an upper-class New York family, she broke with convention and became a professional writer, earning an enduring place as the grande dame of American letters.

This collection 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.

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.

Maureen Howard, editor of this volume, is the author of seven novels, including GRACE ABOUNDING, EXPENSIVE HABITS, NATURAL HISTORY, and A LOVER'S ALMANAC, and has taught at Columbia, Princeton, and Yale. She lives in New York City.

About the Author

Edith Wharton (1862-1937) is a central figure in American literature, a masterful chronicler of her age and prolific writer in many modes. Her major works include The House of Mirth (1905), Ethan Frome (1911), The Custom of the Country (1913) and The Age of Innocence (1920), for which she received the Pulitzer Prize, the first awarded to a woman.

Maureen Howard, the editor of this volume, is the author of numerous novels, including Grace Abounding, Expensive Habits, and Natural History, all of which were nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award. She has taught at a number of American universities, including Columbia, Princeton, Amherst, and Yale, and was awarded the Academy Award in Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. 

About this edition

• Publisher: Library of America
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1883011930
• ISBN 13: 9781883011932
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 928
• Editor: Howard Maureen