''William Wetmore Story and His Friends'' is a

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

of sculptor

William Wetmore Story William Wetmore Story (February 12, 1819 – October 7, 1895) was an American sculptor, art critic, poet, and editor. Life and career William Wetmore Story was the son of jurist Joseph Story and Sarah Waldo (Wetmore) Story. He graduated from H ...

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

, published in 1903. James concentrated on the "friends" of the title, who included

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings ...

Elizabeth Barrett Browning Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime. Born in County Durham, the eldest of 12 children, Elizabet ...

James Russell Lowell James Russell Lowell (; February 22, 1819 – August 12, 1891) was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the fireside poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets that ri ...

, and other figures more prominent than Story himself.

Summary and themes

James had met

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in the 1870s and often enjoyed his hospitality. James didn't take Story very seriously as an artist, though, but regarded him as more of a wealthy dilettante. After Story's death in 1895 his family approached James about writing a biography. James found the project a difficult one because he didn't think there was much to say about Story's own artistic efforts. So he made the book into more of a reminiscence on Italy and the many notable people Story had known. James did discuss Story's most significant works, the statues ''Cleopatra'' and the ''Libyan Sybil''. James quoted from fine letters written to Story by the Brownings and other noteworthy friends. He also worked the Italian background for all it was worth. As James put it in a letter to

William Dean Howells William Dean Howells (; March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was an American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters". He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of ''The Atlantic Monthly'', ...

: "There is nothing for me but to do a ''tour de force'', or try—leave poor W.W.S. ''out'', practically, and make a little volume on the old Roman, Americo-Roman, Hawthornesque and other bygone days."

Critical evaluation

Critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

s have generally been kind to this book, perhaps because they realize how difficult it is to write a biography on an insignificant subject. The ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

'', for instance, calls the book "an entertaining account of Story's life in Rome

James' evocation of old Rome and the Italian countryside has been praised as charming and lovely, much like his essays in ''

Italian Hours ''Italian Hours'' is a book of travel writing by Henry James published in 1909. The book collected essays that James had written over nearly forty years about a country he knew and loved well. James extensively revised and sometimes expanded the ...

''.

References

*''A Henry James Encyclopedia'' by Robert Gale (New York: Greenwood Press, 1989)

External links

Artcyclopedia page for William Wetmore Story
{{Henry James 1903 non-fiction books American biographies Books by Henry James Houghton Mifflin books William Blackwood books