The Golden Bowl.

JAMES, Henry.

Item Number: 78037

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1904.

First edition of this classic James novel. Octavo, original cloth, gilt titles to the spine, gilt topstain. In very good condition with light rubbing and wear. A nice example.

Set in England, this complex, intense study of marriage and adultery completes what some critics have called the "major phase" of James' career. The Golden Bowl explores the tangle of interrelationships between a father and daughter and their respective spouses. The novel focuses deeply and almost exclusively on the consciousness of the central characters, with sometimes obsessive detail but also with powerful insight. The title is taken from Ecclesiastes 12: "Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity." Named by Modern Library as one of the 100 Greatest Novels of the 20th century. It was the basis for the 2000 film, directed by James Ivory, and starred Uma Thurman, Nick Nolte, Kate Beckinsale and Jeremy Northam.