The real right thing was probably written in 1899 and, suitably enough for a supernatural tale, appeared first in a December issue of Collier’s weekly, which had published The turn of the screw in the early months of 1898. No entries about the idea of the tale appear in the surviving notebooks and James didn't usually ‘hold on’ to complete work before getting it published so the idea may have been developed specifically for the Christmas market. After book publication in 1900 (the text presented here) a slightly revised version was made for the New York edition, where it appeared in volume 17, the ‘supernatural’ volume). Full details of all publications known to me containing the tale can be found on the relevant page of my index to Henry James’s tales in collections.
The etext on this web-site is taken from the first U.K. book edition in The soft side (1900), subject to changes required by the editor’s standard editorial method. Apart from these, no corrections or alterations have been necessary.
Because of the production method the text has been proof-read twice, but only by this editor, so it is possible that an error has slipped through both times – offers of proofing assistance will be gratefully received by Adrian Dover.
this note
© 2002-2003
part of an etext edition of
The real right thing
on
the Ladder : a Henry James website