Fred Kaplan

He desired fame and fortune. Whatever the additional enriching complications that were to make him notorious for the complexity of his style and thought, the initial motivation remained constant.

“the most expressively beautiful creature I had ever looked upon. He had a smile to make Correggio sigh in his grave.… Verily nature is still at odds with propriety.… I shall always remember with infinite tender conjecture, as the years roll by, this little unlettered Eros of the Adriatic strand

Six years of frequent illness had pushed him into nervous and physical collapse. A stroke now partly paralyzed him. He had had a nervous breakdown in early 1910, a year after he had made his final visit to Italy. The death of his brother William in August 1910 had been a painful disaster that had left a gaping hole of disconnection in his life and memory. The man who had prided himself on taking possession of many things was now being taken possession of. As he lay dying in a London winter, his mind wandered into increasing incoherence.

What happened to the money, “the admirable three millions,” the loss of which was a “haunting wonder” to Henry James, Jr?

In 1824, at the age of thirteen, Henry senior’s life was radically changed. As part of an outdoor chemistry experiment at Albany Academy, the boys ignited small paper balloons, fueled by burning turpentine, to demonstrate that the balloons would fly if the air inside were heated. Balloon after balloon lofted into the sky in an ascension that was both joyous game and serious lesson. When one of the balloons errantly drifted into a hayloft, the high-spirited Henry senior impulsively pursued it.

to stamp out the flames, first his trouser legs, and then his flesh caught on fire. His right leg had to be amputated beneath the knee.

“learn some one of the professions, trades or occupations usually pursued in this country and must assiduously practice the same,” for the purpose of the will is “to discourage prodigality and vice, and to furnish an incentive to economy and usefulness.

In July 1843, the final stage in the court-mandated division resulted in stocks, bonds, and mortgages, producing almost $188,000 annually, being divided among the heirs. Henry senior’s share provided an income of about $10,000 a year, the sources of which were under his own control. He never added to the capital; family emergencies, general needs, special indulgences, and financial losses gradually reduced it. At the time of his death in 1882, none of his four sons inherited money enough to make any significant difference in their lives.

a great stately square surrounded with high-roofed houses and having in its center a tall and glorious column.”

It made no difference. Europe, history, art, conquest, spaces filled and spaces to be filled, dominated from his earliest consciousness of himself