New Releases by Henry James

Powers has gathered all the surviving correspondence between the two novelists, which reveals how these mutual admirers became devoted friends near the end of James''s life. Though very few letters survive from Wharton''s side, she''s still a strong presence here as James admires her travels and projects, his awe alternating with delicious irony. Though full of references to her failing marriage and his failing health and hopes, his letters are buoyed up by a playful wit. ISBN 0-684-19146-6: $19.95.

Vol. 43.

"For other novelists the value of Henry James''s Notebooks is immense and to brood over them a major experience. The glow of the great impresario is on the pages. They are occasionally readable and endlessly stimulating, often moving and are ocasionally relieved by a drop of gossip."—V. S. Pritchett, New Statesman "The Notebooks take us into his study, and here we can observe him, at last, in the very act of creation at his writing table."—Leon Edel, Atlantic Monthly "A document of prime importance."—Edmund Wilson, New Yorker

In a masterful introductory essay, James E. Miller Jr., presents James''s theory of fiction in outline; he also contributes brief introductions to each of the seventeen chapters, summarizing the major points. Abundant guides direct the reader to subjects and sources.