Buy new:
$22.74
FREE delivery Friday, May 17 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon
Sold by: SmilesStore
$22.74
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Friday, May 17 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 12 hrs 2 mins
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$22.74 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$22.74
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon
Ships from
Amazon
Sold by
SmilesStore
Sold by
SmilesStore
Returns
30-day easy returns
30-day easy returns
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
30-day easy returns
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$17.95
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
Used book in good condition. May have some wear to binding, spine, cover, and pages. Some light highlighting markings writing may be present. May have some stickers and or sticker residue present. May be Ex-lib. copy. May NOT include discs, or access code or other supplemental material. Ships directly from Amazon and is eligible for Prime or super saver FREE shipping. Used book in good condition. May have some wear to binding, spine, cover, and pages. Some light highlighting markings writing may be present. May have some stickers and or sticker residue present. May be Ex-lib. copy. May NOT include discs, or access code or other supplemental material. Ships directly from Amazon and is eligible for Prime or super saver FREE shipping. See less
FREE delivery Friday, May 17 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 12 hrs 2 mins
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$22.74 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$22.74
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

The Ambassadors (Norton Critical Editions) Paperback – February 17, 1994

by Henry James (Author), S P. Rosenbaum (Editor)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 14 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$22.74","priceAmount":22.74,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"22","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"74","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"hotuvxMhW%2B5iLB8ncg2dJd5Wo8nR2oDnPb5Oqu1paacTMRcOwaGrLFZ0pzlFNnpHkp2SCY5CJxZqn7Pq2rvZ6rfzCeLwL8sC75Q0cwjWlUzPOClgZr%2FZPdVvNAgdhp2vvtfAQsHbV0AFxGEG6SZIoJFmVfqzlwxdCAX6LEmbL0aVVj4jJoQv2ARZckVbF7iv","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$17.95","priceAmount":17.95,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"17","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"95","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"hotuvxMhW%2B5iLB8ncg2dJd5Wo8nR2oDnXYbn1ek8raZkM6IHWsyf76CZszpz3AEFTKHIRm%2Baawfu7eV%2Bkc7GTtpkP%2B%2BVHRvpw9RcMUN4sLl4F3X1ljfaCsUH8G3DnGSrkpCH1klQENgnLVcO%2FfFdHeF5Polglu6TBdgjoD5ObClD0%2Baw9RLU%2BlVBQBh4Ug1J","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

This revised and expanded Norton Critical Edition of The Ambassadors again includes the author's preface as well as the most significant variants of the three earlier editions of the novel published in James's lifetime.

The importance of these variants and the conditions under which the novel was written and revised―conditions leading to the continuing controversy over the order of the chapters―are discussed in the editor's rewritten and updated essay on editions and revisions of The Ambassadors.

As often as possible, the annotations to the text have been made by referring to James's other writings.

A map of Strether's Paris and a virtually unknown photograph of James, which originally appeared with the serial of The Ambassadors, have been added to this Second Edition, and the original frontispieces to the New York Edition of the novel have been reproduced in their proper sequence for the first time.

"The Author on the Novel" contains James's notebook entries on the inspiration for The Ambassadors as well as the long, remarkable preliminary statement that the author drew up before writing his novel. The selection of James's letters on The Ambassadors has also been expanded for the Second Edition.

"Criticism" is comprised of fourteen essays that represent more than seventy years of analysis of The Ambassadors, by H. M. Alden, Percy Lubbock, E. M. Forster, F. O. Matthiessen, F. R. Leavis, Joseph Warren Beach, Joan Bennett, Leon Edel, Ian Watt, Sallie Sears, Nicola Bradbury, Maud Ellmann, Millicent Bell, and Philip Fisher.

A Chronology and an expanded Selected Bibliography are also included.
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    543 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  4. Publication date
    February 17, 1994
  5. Dimensions
    5.2 x 1.2 x 8.3 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0393963144
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0393963144
  8. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

S. P. Rosenbaum is Professor Emeritus of English Literature at the University of Toronto and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He is the author of two volumes of the Bloomsbury Group’s literary history, Victorian Bloomsbury and Edwardian Bloomsbury. In addition to The Ambassadors he has also edited A Concordance to the Poems of Emily Dickinson; The Bloomsbury Group: A Collection of Memoirs, Commentary, and Criticism; Virginia Woolf’s Women & Fiction: The Manuscript Versions of A Room of One’s Own; and A Bloomsbury Group Reader.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Second edition (February 17, 1994)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 543 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393963144
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393963144
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.16 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 1.2 x 8.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 14 ratings

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
14 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Luna Xenia
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2017
Verified Purchase
Slow read but good
Helpful
 Report
Jim McKenna
3.0 out of 5 stars More Matter And Less Art
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2000
I love Henry James, and generally find his novels worth the admittedly stenuous effort, but here there just isn't enough going on to justify the required time and effort. The central character is sympathetic in a pale sort of way, but he's not very interesting or perceptive, and this lack of perception becomes irritating when the whole novel is written from his point of view. The whole scenario is not very dramatic, which is unusual with James; generally there are real conflicts in his novels, even if they are hard to locate through the mists of his prose. The lack of conflict in this book makes the whole thing tedious, despite the intelligence and subtlety of the author.
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
brewster22
2.0 out of 5 stars At Least It's Better Than "The Wings of the Dove"
Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2004
There, is that praise faint enough for you? Yes, I found "The Ambassadors" a great deal more readable than James' novel of the year before, but that's not to say I have any great love for this one. Henry James seriously needed to write about something other than European sophistication contrasted with American naivety and crudity (how many times can you tell the same story?), but this novel does tackle that theme about as well as James was ever going to.
I have nothing against people who like James' writing; each to his own. But I don't know that I've ever read an author whose style has annoyed me more. People praise James for his pychological complexity and his mastery of subtext. His novels certainly are full of subtext; it's practically overflowing the pages. But a novel that's all subtext is no better than one that wears its agenda on its sleeve. I understand the influence James had on literature. He acted as a kind of bridge between the moral simplicity of the Victorians and the more psychologically ambiguous writing of the Modernists. But as with many literary figureheads, knowing and understanding his influence does not necessarily make him enjoybable to read.
17 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Witchking7@aol.com
1.0 out of 5 stars Almost Completely Unreadable
Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 1999
This book is horrid. It is by no means a light read and should not be read unless you enjoy nigh incomprehensible sentence structure. Jame's style in this book is just plan tiring and problematic, not so much what he says, but how he syas it. I advise all to steer clear.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
A Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars Ejoyable yes, artistic.. also yes.
Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 1999
Kind of in response to the highly understandable review above, I'd like to state that this book is in fact enjoyable, and not as much of a drag as the other reader makes it sound like. It is however very eloquent and artistic, and should therefore not be read purely for the enjoyment of the story, but also for the language used. The language itself is part of the story, and thats why it would be good for you to buy this critical edition. It will explain exactly how this is so, and will probably lead you to understand and appreciate the book much better. So even though the reader above is not wrong, I think it is a highly superficial argument, and I urge all of you people interested enough in prose and literature to buy this book nevertheless.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
JM
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 24, 2016
Verified Purchase
Everything went fine
Report
Jason2345
5.0 out of 5 stars Un merveilleux roman
Reviewed in France on June 20, 2010
Verified Purchase
C'est un des chefs d'œuvre de Henry James. Ce roman vous tient en haleine du début jusqu'à la fin.
Le sujet est simple : l'héritier d'une grande famille d'industriels américains de la fin du 19ème siècle est parti à Paris pour un voyage d'agrément. Mais il est retenu par le charme de la vie parisienne bourgeoise de l'époque et aussi semble-t-il par une femme mystérieuse. Sa mère a besoin de lui pour mener les affaires en Amérique. Lassée de ne pas recevoir de réponse elle envoie un ami, un "ambassadeur", avec mission d' aller le chercher. Mais la situation se complique car l'Ambassadeur est lui aussi pris au piège du charme parisien. Il s'ensuit une étude fouillée des personnages et des mœurs de cette époque. On pense à Proust, avec un style et une présentation différente. On aime aussi les descriptions de Paris.

C'est un roman à lire absolument si on aime la belle littérature..
One person found this helpful
 Report