Henry James-Life and Work

By the mid 1860's, Henry Jr. became a writer (Bio 3). .
             His first stories were published in the Atlantic Monthly, including his first serialized novel, Watch and Ward (1870, Notebooks xxvii). The rest of his writing career can be back-dropped by his extensive journals and correspondences with his brother, William. In these journals, diaries and letters of, or to Henry James, are the gossip, family news, arrogance and sometimes very moving pieces that construct the personal framework of Henry James' life. .
             In September 1861, eighteen year-old Henry James Jr. received what may be William's first report of college life at Harvard. In this letter, William describes his impressions of a professor, the room in which he is staying, as well as instructions for Henry to carry out at home. The chief concern for William is that Henry convinces their father to send money as soon as possible. William would not stay at school, and would bounce around between periods of rest and academic pursuits for the next several years until he traveled to Europe in 1867 for a tour. The third James brother, Garth Wilkinson James, enlisted in the Union army in 1862, and the youngest brother, Robertson James, enlisted in 1863 (Selected Letters 1-5). .
             By 1870, both brothers had begun their writing careers. In the space of three years since Henry's first published short story in 1864, Henry had managed to write forty-five stories and reviews (Letters 5). However, 1870 was comparatively dry in their writing productions. In 1869, Henry had begun his first tour of Europe supposedly to rid himself of back pains and constipation. This tour became a defining event in Henry James' life that began to encourage the alienation that Henry felt for the United States (HJ 7). After his return home in 1871, Henry James wrote his first novel, Watch and Ward. Henry returned to Europe again in 1872 with his sister Alice and his aunt, Catherine Ward.