We were speaking of notebooks, remember?

Well, Henry James was one compulsive notebooker. He always had one with him, where he noted ideas and interesting conversations, he brainstormed plot and characters and recorded engagements and addresses. Among other things, in one of them is found his solemn decision of giving up playwriting after Guy Domville flopped.

Poor Mr. James…

Anyway, here you can find the transcription of some notebook pages regarding the genesis and writing of The Spoils of Poynton, a shorter and perhaps less known novel of James’. The whole site, lovingly curated by Adrian Dover, is dedicated to Poynton, and is centred around a very good electronic edition of the novel, as it first appeared in London in 1897 – complete with annotations and bibliography.

A must-see for Jamesians, and very interesting for anyone interested in the writing process.