The seventeen short stories chosen by Clifton Fadiman for this volume represent the flowering of Henry James’ writing in this field over a span of thirty-two years—from 1877 to 1909. In that time these tales brought recognition from a discerning following in America and in Europe, if not a huge popular acclaim. Since then the growing revival of interest in James’ work has spread among readers with the widest possible variety of tastes. Volume after volume of his novels has been reissued with new critical appraisals and with more and more general appreciation. Now, thirty-two years after the death of Henry James, in 1916, his short stories are once again, and with enormously renewed favor, read and reread by the discriminating. Evidence of this change in attitude toward so subtle and inexhaustibly rich a writer came when The Short Stories of Henry James was issued in 1945. The response was immediate and most heartening for the faithful who had championed the American prose master through three decades. More than 25,000 copies were sold. This volume now takes its permanent place on the Modern Library shelf, complete and unabridged, with the perceptive and illuminating Introduction and Notes by Clifton Fadiman.