Son of the religious philosopher Henry James, Sr., and brother of the
psychologist and philosopher William, Henry James was born in New York City,
April 15, 1843. His early life was spent in America; on and off he was taken to
Europe, especially during the impressionable years from twelve to seventeen.
After that he lived in Newport, went briefly to Harvard, and, in 1864, began to
contribute both criticism and tales to the magazine. In 1869, and then in
1872-74, he paid visits to Europe and began Roderick Hudsen. Late in 1875 he
settled in Paris, where he met Turgenev, Flaubert, and zola, and wrote The
American (1877). In December 1876 he moved to London, where two years later he
achieved international fame with Daisy Miller. Other famous works include
Washington Square (1880), The portrait of a Lady (1881), The Princess
Casamassima (1886), The Aspern Papers (1888), The turn of the Screw (1898), and
the three large novels of the new century, The wings of the dove (1902), The
Ambassadors (1903), and The Golden Bowl (1904). In 1905 he revisited the United
States and wrote The American Scene (1907). He also wrote many works of
criticism and travel. Although old and ailing, he threw himself into war work in
1914; and in 1915, a few months before his death, he became a British subject.
In January 1916 King George V conferred the Order of Merit on him. He died in
London on February 28, 1916, and his ashes were buried in the James family plot
in Cambridge, Massachusetts.