The Printing History of, and Other Matters Related to, Henry James’s First American Edition of Daisy Miller

Abstract

There has been debate about the claim that Henry James’s first American edition of Daisy Miller sold twenty thousand copies in a matter of weeks. This note aims to settle that debate by providing evidence in favor of the work’s popularity through an analysis of Harper and Sons’ printing and royalty records, James’s letters, contemporary printing practices, and copies of the books themselves. I identify seven separate distinct impressions of this title printed in the period between its initial publication on September 9, 1878, and October 1881, and I conclude that because of a seven-month gap in the Harper records after the initial print order, there were undoubtedly one or more impressions printed in this period, copies of which have not yet been found. In addition, I show that a $200 check from Harpers to James (a check that has clouded the conversation over the novel’s popularity) was not a royalty payment on Daisy Miller, but payment for the purchase by Harpers of the copyright of James’s story An International Episode. Attached as appendices are details of each of the seven impressions and abstracts from the royalty records.