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The Aspern Papers

and  Other Stories

- by  Henry James -

ISBN: 

Publisher: Oxford World's Classics, Australia

Published: 2007

Binding: SOFTcover  212 pages

Condition: UNread condition!   A retired display copy - as illustrated!

Edition:  FIRST of THIS EDITION: first printing

WHY do ebayers buy from US?

Because you KNOW what you're getting. My close up photos are of the actual item!!

Remains UNread - it was the display copy. It is Tight -  neat, no inscriptions or marks. Appears as in my photos - this is the exact copy!!  A nicely preserved copy - superb! 

No discernible shelf wear, the interior is tight and spotlessly clean with 212 pages. 

In original SOFTcover binding, in publisher's illustrated covers.

SYNOPSIS

The Contents of this volume:

An unscrupulous critic, determined to get his hands on the private papers of a great poet, finds himself duelling with the grim old lady who was once the poet's mistress and muse. Aspern's lost world of beauty and romance still seems to hand in the glamorous air of Venice, but the price of admission turns out to involve ather party, the old woman's unmagical niece. What exactly is Aspern's admirer prepared to pay? In the other stories collected here - 'The Private Life', 'The Middle Years', and 'The Death of the Lion' - the elusive figure of the writer again arouses passions of pursuit and dispute among rival admirers and patrons. James never wrote more pointedly about the pleasures and pains of the writer, or more wittily about the public that seeks to profit from him. 

ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful tes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

An American editor with an enthusiasm for the works of Jeffrey Aspern, a romantic poet of the early 19th century, goes to Venice to acquire the letters that Aspern wrote to his mistress, a Miss Bordereau, whom he called "Juliana." Under an assumed name he rents a suite in the ancient palace where she lives in poverty and seclusion with her niece, Miss Tina. He finds that the old lady is shrewd and haughty and accepts him as a lodger only to put aside money for the future of Miss Tina, a timid, unattractive spinster much in awe of her aunt. During his residence with them, the editor wins the friendship of Miss Tina, to whom he reveals his mission. Leaving Venice for a fortnight, he returns to find that Miss Bordereau has died. Miss Tina, who is clearly in love, welcomes him expectantly, but confesses that she could only give him the papers if he were "a relative." 

In addition to "The Aspern Papers," this collection contains "The Private Life," "The Middle Years," and "The Death of the Lion," as well as prefaces by Henry James, a chronology of his life, and editor's notes.
About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

About the Author

Henry James (1843-1916), son of Henry James Sr. and brother of the philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James, was an American-born author and literary critic of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He spent much of his life in Europe and became a British subject
shortly before his death. He is primarily known for novels, novellas and short stories based on themes of consciousness and morality.

Very entertaining  read!

Reviews

OUTSTANDING! .... The text here is that of the New York Edition, which is also the text used in the Penguin Classics edition. I have yet to read the original version, although I have it in The Library of America edition of James's tales. Originally, one character in the story was named "Tita"; then when James revised the story her name was changed to "Tina."

Like so many of James's works, this gem had its origins in an incident from life that he overheard, of a woman who owned some of Byron's letters and burned one of them. Henry James, we know, created one of Literature's great bonfires, in which he burned numerous letters to himself; and we know that he often ending a letter to a correspondent with the plea, "Burn this!" And yet we know that James himself devoured editions of letters by writers. In THE ASPERN PAPERS, James has created the myth of a famous American poet, Jeffrey Aspern, with whom the story's narrator is obsessed. (Interestingly, three of the four tales in this volume are told in first-person narrative; none of James's novels are, with the exception of THE SACRED FOUNT.) I found the story, as it unwound, hypnotic--it clutched my attention to its very end. The characters are superbly imagined and brought to life. The atmosphere of the haunted old house in ancient Venice, with its living spectres, one so close to death and the other never actually having had much of "life," is woven with genius. James has a wonderful sense of place. One would not think that so intense a drama could be crafted from so slim an idea--an unscrupulous journalist, obsessed with a poet of genius, discovers that the poet's great love yet lives and has in her possession her love letters from the poet; the journalist becomes a lodger in the old inhabitant ad tries to find a way to get his hot hands on the ached-for letters. That James could created a spellbinding story from what seems at first so pathetic an incident amazes me.

The sense of hauntedness of the tale is captured in the 1947 film adaptation, THE LOST MOMENT. I have not seen the newer 2010 film adaptation (where the story setting is moved to the jungles of Venezuela), and I'm curious about it. If any of you have seen it, perhaps you could share your views in the comments below.

The other tales in this volume reflect the lives of writers, the relation between those who write and they who read. I highly recommend this edition of THE ASPERN PAPERS AND OTHER STORIES.

Marvellous Reading!

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Because you KNOW what you're getting. My close up photos are of the actual item & form part of my description!!

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