New York Edition

The New York Edition of Henry James' fiction was a 24-volume collection of the Anglo-American writer's novels, novellas and short stories, originally published in the U.S. and the UK between 1907 and 1909, with a photogravure frontispiece for each volume by Alvin Langdon Coburn.

Two more volumes containing James' unfinished novels, The Ivory Tower and The Sense of the Past, were issued in 1917 in a format consistent with the original set.

Written in the ornate style of his final years, the prefaces discuss such important topics in the writing of fiction as point of view, the central intelligence of the protagonist, "foreshortening" or the presentation of complex material in a reasonable length, creating the sense of wonder necessary for effective storytelling, the need for attention on the part of the reader, the proper selections and exclusions of additional developments of the original narrative idea, the relationship between narrative art and ordinary human life, and the contrast between romanticism and realism.

James also explored the origins of many of his fictions and often recounted personal experiences involved in their writing, such as the distracting beauty of Venice where he wrote much of The Portrait of a Lady.

A number of biographers and critics, including Leon Edel and Michael Anesko, have discussed the construction of the edition and the compromises James made in selecting and excluding certain works due to commercial demands and his own tastes and preferences.