"I egg you on in your study of the American life."—Henry James in a letter to Edith Wharton, October 26, 1900
Though it would be another three years before they finally met, the correspondence—and friendship—of Henry James and Edith Wharton began in earnest on this date 110 years ago.
The relationship did not start until Wharton felt secure about her own accomplishments as a writer. On a couple of occasions in the 1880s and 1890s, she related in her 1934 autobiography, A Backward Glance, she had had the opportunity to meet the great American expatriate author, and had even contrived to wear something she regarded as suitably “pretty” for the occasion. She was crestfallen to find that this man on whom nothing was lost never took notice of her.
Over the remaining 15 years of her life, James made up for lost time, becoming “perhaps the most intimate friend I ever had.” Her memoir is filled with acutely rendered accounts of his mannerisms, his resonant voice in reading poetry aloud, and why she agreed with a friend that he was “the first, easily, of all the talkers I ever encountered.”
Today’s quote derives from a 170-letter treasure trove of James’ messages to Wharton that are now kept in Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Much of it, such as this one, features his advice on her writing. But it also reflects how he became a trusted confidante during perhaps the most painful period of her life: the collapse of her marriage to her husband Teddy.
Though it would be another three years before they finally met, the correspondence—and friendship—of Henry James and Edith Wharton began in earnest on this date 110 years ago.
The relationship did not start until Wharton felt secure about her own accomplishments as a writer. On a couple of occasions in the 1880s and 1890s, she related in her 1934 autobiography, A Backward Glance, she had had the opportunity to meet the great American expatriate author, and had even contrived to wear something she regarded as suitably “pretty” for the occasion. She was crestfallen to find that this man on whom nothing was lost never took notice of her.
Over the remaining 15 years of her life, James made up for lost time, becoming “perhaps the most intimate friend I ever had.” Her memoir is filled with acutely rendered accounts of his mannerisms, his resonant voice in reading poetry aloud, and why she agreed with a friend that he was “the first, easily, of all the talkers I ever encountered.”
Today’s quote derives from a 170-letter treasure trove of James’ messages to Wharton that are now kept in Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Much of it, such as this one, features his advice on her writing. But it also reflects how he became a trusted confidante during perhaps the most painful period of her life: the collapse of her marriage to her husband Teddy.
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