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THE AMBASSADORS: A Novel
by James, Henry
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very Good/Very Good
- Seller
-
Williamsburg, Virginia, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York and London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1903. 431 pages. Octavo. In the scarce dust jacket. Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the twentieth century. The book is in very good condition: clean, bright, and tight; very shallow chipping at head of spine; 3/4" closed tear at top of front gutter; 1/3" closed tear at foot of front gutter. The uncommon cloth covered dust jacket is in very good condition: clean, bright, and attractive; minor wear at spine extremities.. First U. S. Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Book.
Synopsis
Chad Newsome has gone to Paris. He is charmed by Old World fascinations and caught up in the leisurely craft and bohemian direction of European worldliness. An older woman of rank and adventurous but subtle skill, Madame de Vionnet, strokes his ego and does her best to keep Chad in Paris indefinitely. Chad's mother lives in Woollett, Mass., and wants her son to return to run the family business. Mrs. Newsome is an invalid and cannot go to Paris to fetch her son herself, so she employs Lambert Strether and Sarah Pocock to return Chad to Massachusetts. Sarah has been to Paris before and is aware of its attractiveness, so her determination to succeed in this task is fixed and uncompromising. Strether is of later middle age, however, and inspired by the fairytale of a beautiful life in Europe. Mrs. Newsome has promised to marry Strether if he can bring Chad home. Strether is completely enamored by the Parisian character and its enchantments and has a difficult time completing his mission. The drama of reestablishing Chad in business in America and of coming to terms with the mythological romance of France leaves the reader unbalanced, trying to recover equilibrium in the real world. Those involved with Chad's rescue are compelled to recognize the deep intimacies of personal attachment and the accepted proprieties of direct consequence. The success and failures of such an undertaking are unpredictable. The result of every character's attempt to steer Chad rightly is a strange conglomeration of role reversal, fantasy, and truth.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Tennyson Williams, Books and Fine Art
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- W2670
- Title
- THE AMBASSADORS: A Novel
- Author
- James, Henry
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First U. S. Edition
- Publisher
- Harper & Brothers Publishers
- Place of Publication
- New York and London
- Date Published
- 1903
- Size
- 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Keywords
- Literature Literary Fiction First Edition
- Bookseller catalogs
- Literary First Editions; Literature and Fiction;
Terms of Sale
Tennyson Williams, Books and Fine Art
We hold books only for firm orders. Books may be returned within 7 days of receipt for refund of purchase price. We pay shipping costs only if we have made a significant error in description.
About the Seller
Tennyson Williams, Books and Fine Art
Biblio member since 2004
Williamsburg, Virginia
About Tennyson Williams, Books and Fine Art
Our office, located in historic Williamsburg, Virginia, is open by appointment or by chance. We are antiquarian booksellers who buy and sell carefully selected books for collectors and researchers in many genre. We also sell important autographs and photographs as well as original art, including wood engravings by Winslow Homer and J. J. Lankes; lithographs by Miró, Matisse, Calder, Wengenroth, and others; and works from the American Etching Revival. You can reach us by telephone: (757)378-5400; or by email: twbooks1@cox.net.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Chipping
- A defect in which small pieces are missing from the edges; fraying or small pieces of paper missing the edge of a paperback, or...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Gutter
- The inside margin of a book, connecting the pages to the joints near the binding.
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
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