The text reprinted in this volume is based on an examination of thefive printed versions of The American (first published in 1877) whichappeared in James's lifetime, and it is preceded
by his "Preface to theNew York Edition" (1907).
The textual history of the novel is traced in A Note on the Text; alist of substantive variants and emendations; a facsimile manuscriptpage showing James's method of revision; and a list of the
installmentsof the novel as they appeared in The Atlantic.
"Backgrounds and Sources" includes relevant extracts from correspondence,reviews, and articles by James and others, and from his Notebooks andHawthorne.
"Contemporary Reception" of the novel is illustrated by twenty-oneAmerican and English reviews.
"Twentieth-Century Criticism" is represented in essays by Leon Edel,Oscar Cargill, Irving Howe, Richard Poirier, Royal A. Gettmann, andJames W. Tuttleton.
A Selected Bibliography is included for further study.
