' There's no baseness I wouldn't commit for Jeffrey Aspern's sake' The poet Aspern long since dead has left behind some private papers They are jealously guarded by an old lady once his mistress & muse a recluse in an old palazzo in Venice tended by her ingenuous niece A predatory critic is determined to seize them What can he make of the younger woman? What are his motives? What are the papers worth & what is he prepared to pay? In all four stories collected here including ' The Death of the Lion' ' The Figure in the Carpet' & ' The Birthplace' the figure of the artist is central Extraordinarily prophetic James explores the emergent new cult of the writer as celebrity & asks who cares about the work for itself? Can the man behind the artist ever truly be known & does our knowledge explain the act of creativity? This new edition
Includes:: extracts from James's Prefaces & Notebooks which shed light on the genesis of the stories ABOUT THE SERIES For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features including expert introductions by leading authorities helpful notes to clarify the text up-to-date bibliographies for further study & much more