The Aspern Papers by James, Henry - 1993

Boston: David R. Godine, 1993. Milton, Peter. Oblong folio. One of 250 copies of the deluxe edition, containing an original print by Peter Milton, who has signed both the print itself and the edition statement. Milton also provides an Afterword, in which he describes his inspiration for his illustrations, each of which adopt a surrealism that underscores the tensions of James's story. The scenes address the perception of selfhood and the biographer's struggle between journalistic fact and artistic emotion, which reach their peaks in the tale's dual climaxes. The large, unbound format of the illustrations and the story entire implicate the reader in the same questions of discovery, genuity, and audience. All sheets fine, and housed in dropback box.