texts

‘Sir Edmund Orme’ by Henry James
in : Black and white   Christmas number, 1891 (published 25 November 1891), pages 8, 10–15

providing a ghost story for the first of a noted series of special Christmas numbers, a supplement to volume 2 of this high-quality, large-format weekly current affairs magazine

(the entry, D449, in the standard James bibliography by Edel & Laurence wrongly reports the pages as ‘8, 11–15’: in fact only page 9 is advertising material)

The lesson of the master ; The marriages ; [etc.] / by Henry James. – London ; New York : Macmillan, 1892. – 302 p. ; 20 cm. — pages 266–302

contents: The lesson of the master; The marriages; The pupil; Brooksmith; The solution; Sir Edmund Orme

containing the first book publication; 2900 copies were printed in Boston, Mass. for both American and British markets (with local binding); they retailed at $1·00 (in Macmillan’s dollar novel series) and 6/‒ respectively from the last two weeks in February

The altar of the dead ; The beast in the jungle ; The birthplace ; and other tales / by Henry James. – New York : Scribner ; London : Macmillan, 1909. – xxviii, 541 p. ; 22 cm. – (The novels and tales of Henry James : New York edition ; v. 17) — pages 367–408

contents: The altar of the dead, The beast in the jungle, The birthplace, The private life, Owen Wingrave, The real right thing, The friends of the friends, Sir Edmund Orme, The jolly corner, Julia Bride

a further revised text appeared in James’s definitive collected edition, which was sold on subscription only: in America an initial 1000 copies of each volume were available at $2, $4 or $8 per volume (depending on the binding chosen); one hundred sets of the same sheets were bound in Britain for Macmillan’s first, 8/6 per volume issue; this volume appeared early in 1909 and an unknown quantity of additional copies, in both territories, were produced later

for subsequent reprints of this tale see the relevant page
of my index to Henry James’s tales in collections

commentaries and discussions

in addition to the selected criticism listed below, this tale is discussed (in greater or lesser detail) in the general works on James’s tales and fiction, which I have listed on a separate page; those works are annotated here only when I’ve tracked them down and they offer significant insights

‘Preface’ by Henry James
in : The altar of the dead ; … and other tales (New York edition ; 17), — see above;
reprinted in : The art of the novel : critical prefaces / by Henry James ; with an introduction by Richard P. Blackmur. – New York ; London : Scribner, 1934. – xli, 348 p. ; 22 cm. — pages 241–266

relevant text available on this website

‘The structural analysis of literature : the tales of Henry James’ by Tzvetan Todorov
in : Structuralism : an introduction / edited by David Robey. – Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1973. – 153 p. : ill. ; 23 cm. – (Wolfson College lectures ; 1972). – ISBN 0-19-874012-3 — pages 73–104

substantially the same article appears, in a different translation as :

‘The secret of narrative’ by Tzvetan Todorov (translated from the French by Richard Howard)
in : The poetics of prose / by Tzvetan Todorov. – Oxford : Blackwell, 1977. – 272 p. ; 22 cm. – Translation of: La poétique de la prose. Paris : Éditions du Seuil, 1971. – ISBN 0-631-18230-6 — pages 143–178

in his passage on this tale (pages: 83–87, Clarendon; 155–159, Blackwell), Todorov pairs Sir Edmund Orme with The turn of the screw (1898), examining the importance of ambiguity as one of the ‘absent cause[s]’ (page: 74, Clarendon; 145, Blackwell)

‘James and Nanboku : a comparative study of supernatural stories in the West and East’ by Masayuki Akiyama
in : Comparative literature studies   vol. 22 no. 1 (Spring 1985), pages 43–52

a comparison of this tale, The romance of certain old clothes (1868) and The friends of the friends (1907 revision of The way it came, 1896) with Nanboku Tsuruya’s Kabuki drama Tōkaidō Yotsuya Kaidan (1825), showing how the spirits ‘wander in the temporal world because they bear a grudge or have a lingering attachment to this world’ (page 41): ‘the reason … seems to be common to both cultures’ (page 50); sees Nanboku adopting ‘techniques similar to modern realism’ (page 47) and ‘describ[ing] realistically the corruption of the Edo era in which human desire for wealth, fame, advancement, and sex overwhelms intelligence and virtuousness.’ (page 51)

‘Ghosts and the nature of death in literature : Henry James’ Sir Edmund Orme’ by Arthur A. Brown
in : American literary realism   vol. 31 no. 1 (Fall 1998), pages 60–74

an in-depth reading of the tale, on the premiss that ‘ghost stories do force ghosts into existence – into story, plot, and narration – just as literature forces death into existence’ (page 71)

‘Digesting Henry James’ by Ronald K. Giles
in : Lamar journal of the humanities   vol. 24 no. 1 (Spring 1999), pages 39–46

[not available to me]

‘Ombra genitoriale e ferita parentale in Sir Edmund Orme di Henry James’ [roughly : Parental shadow and relative’s wounding in Henry James’s Sir Edmund Orme] by Mirella Vallone
in : Rivista di studi vittoriani   vol. 6 no. 3 [2] (1998), pages 83–102

[not available to me]