Henry James (1843-1916), born in New York City, was the son of
noted religious philosopher Henry James, Sr., and brother of
eminent psychologist and philosopher William James. He spent his
early life in America and studied in Geneva, London and Paris
during his adolescence to gain the worldly experience so prized by
his father. He lived in Newport, went briefly to Harvard Law
School, and in 1864 began to contribute both criticism and tales to
magazines.In 1869, and then in 1872-74, he paid visits to Europe
and began his first novel, Roderick Hudson. Late in 1875 he settled
in Paris, where he met Turgenev, Flaubert, and Zola, and wrote The
American (1877). In December 1876 he moved to London, where two
years later he achieved international fame with Daisy Miller. Other
famous works include Washington Square (1880), The Portrait of a
Lady (1881), The Princess Casamassima (1886), The Aspern Papers
(1888), The Turn of the Screw (1898), and three large novels of the
new century, The Wings of the Dove (1902), The Ambassadors (1903)
and The Golden Bowl (1904). In 1905 he revisited the United States
and wrote The American Scene (1907).
During his career he also wrote many works of criticism and travel.
Although old and ailing, he threw himself into war work in 1914,
and in 1915, a few months before his death, he became a British
subject. In 1916 King George V conferred the Order of Merit on him.
He died in London in February 1916.
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