Whether one reads Henry James’s late novels primarily for aesthetic reasons, for social awareness, or to explore the clash of European and American sensibilities, the effort will be repaid manyfold. The richness, subtlety, and depth of characterization, the relevance of the moral issues, and the unforgettable portrayal of human dilemmas secure a place for James’s late novels among the treasures of world literature.

Fans of Henry James have long debated the respective virtues of the three major novels. The Wings of the Dove has risen in critical esteem in recent years, though it still has detractors among the critics. A familiar complaint is that Wings lacks the symmetry that James achieved in The Ambassadors and The Golden Bowl. Some have found the ending unconvincing. James himself feared that the early sections in Wings might be too drawn out and that other sections may have thus become too crowded. At the time he completed The Ambassadors, James was convinced that it was his greatest achievement. James ultimately considered The Golden Bowl his best work but ranked Wings as one of his “advanced” works. The arguments over which of the late novels is the most accessible, or has the most followers among the cognoscenti or the general public, or best represents the true genius of Henry James are lively and diverting. But much of this disputation, I think, misses the mark. The three major novels can be better understood and more deeply appreciated in reference to each other. Each deserves a wider readership; each has been to some degree a neglected classic. There are, however, favorable signs. There has been a steady growth in the number of James devotees in recent years, if one can judge by the number of Web sites and “hits” on them, the college courses featuring James, the number of journal articles, and the like. In publishing The Wings of the Dove in this Barnes & Noble Classics edition, our intent is not only to bring this classic to a broad audience but to increase the readership for and interest in all of the James works.

A few words are in order about the circumstances of the publication of The Wings of the Dove. James was in the habit of working on more than one project at a time, and he had originally contracted to finish Wings by September 1, 1901. The Ambassadors was to be prepared for serialization in the North American Review but was not finished until the summer of 1901, and only then could James concentrate his energies fully on Wings. He had determined that Wings should not be bound by the formalities and rules of serial publication in a magazine, which usually dictated twelve installments of roughly equal length. He was committed therefore to submit a complete manuscript of Wings to Constable in England and Scribner’s in America. Seeing that the initial deadline for Wings would be impossible to meet, he asked for an extension to August 1902, with publication to be deferred to the fall of 1902. The proposal was unacceptable to his publishers, who argued that their fall schedule was already too crowded and that James’s usual readers would want to read the book on their summer holidays. A compromise was worked out: The manuscript would be submitted in April 1902 with publication a few months later in June. James worked furiously in late 1901 and submitted a large installment of the manuscript of Wings to the publishers in December. But in January 1902 he became ill and his production slowed. (As with The Ambassadors and subsequently with The Golden Bowl, he dictated Wings to his typist Mary Weld.) Despite his best efforts, he could not meet the April deadline. He did dispatch some 400 pages of typescript, however, and promised his publishers the finished manuscript by May 15. He estimated that it would take an additional 100 pages to finish the novel. Winding up the story actually required more than twice that number of pages. He sent in the final 220 pages on May 20, 1902.

Delays in typesetting, the pressures of correcting proofs, the vagaries of transatlantic mail, and the task of trying to coordinate the dates of publication in New York and London, as well as continuing problems with The Ambassadors, brought further delays. The Wings of the Dove finally appeared on August 20, 1902 (ahead, as it turned out, of The Ambassadors, which was serialized in the North American Review from January to December 1903). The print run for Wings was 3,000 copies in America and 4,000 in England. Initial sales of Wings were disappointing.