Henry James Visits the Priory: A Twice-Told Tale

Abstract

Henry James first met George Eliot in 1869, before he had published any fiction, and he did not see her again until 1878, by which time she was the universally admired author of Middlemarch (1871–72) and he had at last begun to make his name as a novelist, with Roderick Hudson (1875), The American (1876–77), and The Europeans (1878). There are two accounts of the first meeting, one written the following day, 10 May 1869, the other shortly before James’s death in 1916. The later account is a much embellished version of the earlier; interestingly, both are striking for their writerliness. Both accounts reward close scrutiny, especially the later account, which has been neglected by scholars. Such scrutiny offers a fresh insight into the relationship between the two writers, and in particular makes it possible to revisit and re-evaluate James’s criticisms of George Eliot’s fiction.