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The Golden Bowl
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The Golden Bowl Paperback - 2009

by Henry James; Introduction by Ruth Bernard Yeazell; Ruth Bernard Yeazell (Editor)

A new edition of Henry James's searing study of marriage andinfidelity

Set in England, The Golden Bowl is Henry James'shighly charged exploration of adultery, jealousy, and possession thatcontinues-and challenges-James's characteristic exploration ofthe battle between American innocence and European experience.Maggie Verver, a young American heiress, and her widowed father,Adam, lead a life of wealth and refinement in London. They are bothgetting married: Maggie to Prince Amerigo, an impoverished Italianaristocrat, and Adam to the beautiful but penniless Charlotte Stant.But both father and daughter are unaware that their new conquestsshare a secret-one for which all concerned must pay the price.This story completes what critics have called the "major phase" ofJames's career.

About this book

The Golden Bowl, Henry James’ last completed novel, is widely considered to be one of the author’s best works (along with The Ambassadors and The Wings of a Dove). In it, James continues to explore his favored themes of marriage, money, and psychological warfare. The novel, set in England, tells the story of American heiress Maggie Verver, who is engaged to Amerigo, an impoverished Italian prince. Maggie’s father, Adam, travels to London for the wedding and meets Charlotte Stant, a friend of both Maggie and the prince. In a nutshell, The Golden Bowl is about Maggie’s education on marriage, adultery, and the aftermath.

The title of the novel comes from a Biblical passage, Ecclesiastes 12:6-7: "Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern… then shall the dust return to the earth as it was…” The golden bowl, first seen in a London curio shop, is used emblematically throughout the novel.

The Golden Bowl is ranked 32nd on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century and 36th on The Guardian’s list of the 100 best novels. Adaptations include the highly praised 1972 BBC six-hour-long televised version and the 2000 film directed by James Ivory, starring Uma Thurman, Nick Nolte, Kate Beckinsale, and Jeremy Northam.

Summary

A new edition of Henry James?s searing study of marriage and Infidelity

Set in England, The Golden Bowl is Henry James?s highly charged exploration of adultery, jealousy, and possession that continues?and challenges?James?s characteristic exploration of the battle between American innocence and European experience. Maggie Verver, a young American heiress, and her widowed father, Adam, lead a life of wealth and refinement in London. They are both getting married: Maggie to Prince Amerigo, an impoverished Italian aristocrat, and Adam to the beautiful but penniless Charlotte Stant. But both father and daughter are unaware that their new conquests share a secret?one for which all concerned must pay the price. This story completes what critics have called the ?major phase? of James?s career.

From the publisher

A new edition of Henry James's searing study of marriage and Infidelity Set in England, The Golden Bowl is Henry James's highly charged exploration of adultery, jealousy, and possession that continues and challenges James's characteristic exploration of the battle between American innocence and European experience. Maggie Verver, a young American heiress, and her widowed father, Adam, lead a life of wealth and refinement in London. They are both getting married: Maggie to Prince Amerigo, an impoverished Italian aristocrat, and Adam to the beautiful but penniless Charlotte Stant. But both father and daughter are unaware that their new conquests share a secret - one for which all concerned must pay the price. This story completes what critics have called the "major phase" of James's career. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

First Edition Identification

Charles Scribner’s Sons first published The Golden Bowl in New York in December 1904. In a print run of 2,000 copies, the two-volume first edition is bound in brown cloth and has no additional printings listed on the copyright page. 

Details

  • Title The Golden Bowl
  • Author Henry James; Introduction by Ruth Bernard Yeazell; Ruth Bernard Yeazell (Editor)
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reprint
  • Pages 656
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Group
  • Date 2009-08-25
  • ISBN 9780141441276 / 0141441275
  • Weight 1 lbs (0.45 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.76 x 5.06 x 1.12 in (19.71 x 12.85 x 2.84 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects Domestic fiction, England
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

About the author

Henry James (1843-1916), born in New York City, was the son of noted religious philosopher Henry James, Sr., and brother of eminent psychologist and philosopher William James. He spent his early life in America and studied in Geneva, London and Paris during his adolescence to gain the worldly experience so prized by his father. He lived in Newport, went briefly to Harvard Law School, and in 1864 began to contribute both criticism and tales to magazines. In 1869, and then in 1872-74, he paid visits to Europe and began his first novel, Roderick Hudson. Late in 1875 he settled in Paris, where he met Turgenev, Flaubert, and Zola, and wrote The American (1877). In December 1876 he moved to London, where two years later he achieved international fame with Daisy Miller. Other famous works include Washington Square (1880), The Portrait of a Lady (1881), The Princess Casamassima(1886), The Aspern Papers (1888), The Turn of the Screw (1898), and three large novels of the new century, The Wings of the Dove (1902), The Ambassadors (1903) and The Golden Bowl (1904). In 1905 he revisited the United States and wrote The American Scene (1907). During his career he also wrote many works of criticism and travel. Although old and ailing, he threw himself into war work in 1914, and in 1915, a few months before his death, he became a British subject. In 1916 King George V conferred the Order of Merit on him. He died in London in February 1916. Philip Horne has spent a decade looking at the thousands of James's letters in archives in the United States and Europe. A Reader in English Literature at University College, London, he is the author of Henry James and Revision and the editor of the Penguin Classics edition of James's The Tragic Muse.
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