The Ivory Tower, _one of the two novels which Henry James left
unfinished at his death, was designed to consist of ten books. Three
only of these were written, with one chapter of the fourth, and except
for the correction of a few obvious slips the fragment is here printed
in full and without alteration. It was composed during the summer of_
1914. _The novel seems to have grown out of another which had been
planned by Henry James in the winter of_ 1909-10. _Of this the opening
scenes had been sketched and a few pages written when it was interrupted
by illness. On taking it up again, four years later, Henry James almost
entirely recast his original scheme, retaining certain of the characters
(notably the Bradham couple,) but otherwise giving an altogether fresh
setting to the central motive. The new novel had reached the point where
it breaks off by the beginning of August_ 1914. _With the outbreak of
war Henry James found he could no longer work upon a fiction supposed to
represent contemporary or recent life. The completed chapters--which he
had dictated to his secretary, in accordance with his regular habit for
many years past--were revised and laid aside, not again to be resumed._
_The pages of preliminary notes, also here printed in full, were not of
course intended for publication. It was Henry James's constant practice,
before beginning a novel, to test and explore, in a written or dictated
sketch of this kind, the possibilities of the idea which he had in mind.
Such a sketch was in no way a first draft of the novel. He used it
simply as a means of close approach to his subject, in order that he
might completely possess himself of it in all its bearings. The
arrangement of chapters and scenes would so be gradually evolved, but
the details were generally left to be determined in the actual writing
of the book. It will be noticed, for example, that in the provisional
scheme of_ The Ivory Tower _no mention is made of the symbolic object
itself or of the letter which is deposited in it. The notes, having
served their purpose, would not be referred to again, and were
invariably destroyed when the book was finished._
_In the story of_ The Death of the Lion _Henry James has exactly
described the manner of these notes, in speaking of the "written scheme
of another book" which is shewn to the narrator by Neil Paraday: "Loose
liberal confident, it might have passed for a great gossiping eloquent
letter--the overflow into talk of an artist's amorous plan." If
justification were needed for the decision to publish this "overflow" it
might be found in Paraday's last injunction to his friend: "Print it as
it stands--beautifully._"
_PERCY LUBBOCK._