Mocking the Master: Early Responses to The Sacred Fount

Abstract

Reviews of The Sacred Fount (1901) have previously been reprinted in a small number of source books, but it is now possible to extend our knowledge of the early reception of James’s most controversial and enigmatic novel. This article reprints selected text from four reviews (1901) as well as the complete text of three literary skits (1901–02), a parody (1904) and a 1905 letter published in the New York Times. Even when hostile or mocking, these uncollected works have much to say about James’s position within the transatlantic literary marketplace at a key moment in his career.