Biography Essay

The first important fact in the life of Henry James is the wealth of his paternal grandfather, the Irish immigrant William James (1771-1832), who, when he died in Albany, New York, left a fortune of $3 million (based on salt, tobacco, real estate, and public utilities). A second significant circumstance in the life of the future novelist is his earliest recorded memory: he was less than two years old, was in Paris with his parents, and looked out their carriage window upon an impressive sight, the stately Place Vendome with "its . . . tall and glorious column." A third fact always to be aware of in trying to come to terms with James is suggested in a passage from a letter which, as an old man, he wrote to his gloomy old friend Henry Adams: "1 am that queer monster, the artist, an obstinate finality, an inexhaustible sensibility." These are...