The Master and the Dean: The Literary Criticism of Henry James and William Dean Howells

by Rob Davidson

Henry James (1843–1916) and William Dean Howells (1837–1920) are best known for the central roles they played as nineteenth-century American novelists, penning such classics as James’s Portrait of a Lady and Howells’s The Rise of Silas Lapham . Their importance as literary critics, however, has been underplayed for decades. Although certain aspects of James’s and Howells’s criticism have been carefully considered—James’s “Prefaces” and Howells’s Criticism and Fiction , for example—no scholar has previously undertaken a comprehensive comparative study of their respective critical oeuvres. In The Master and the Dean , Rob Davidson presents the first book-length study of James’s literary criticism to be published since the early 1980s and the first-ever book-length study of Howells’s criticism. Considering Howells’s commonly accepted position among scholars as the most influential American literary critic of the period, such a study is long overdue.

            Beginning with a detailed examination of the European and domestic sources that led James and Howells toward realism, Davidson examines the interrelationships between the two writers, with special emphasis on their diverging aesthetic concerns and attitudes toward the market and audience, their beliefs concerning the moral value of fiction and the United States as a literary subject, and their various writings about each other. A rigorous, intertextual reading of their work as critics reveals both deeper rifts and more intimate similarities between the two writers than have been recognized previously. Of special note is Davidson’s careful attention to the frequently overlooked final two decades of Howells’s career.

            This close look at the lesser-known critical work of James and Howells will appeal both to scholars of the period and to anyone seeking an exceptional introduction to a crucially important era of American literary criticism.

312 pages, Hardcover

First published July 18, 2005

About the author

Rob Davidson is the author of six books, including Welcome Back to the World: A Novella and Stories (Cornerstone Press, 2024), winner of the 2025 National Indie Excellence Award in Short Stories.

Davidson’s additional honors include a Fulbright award, the Camber Press Fiction Prize (judged by Ron Carlson), multiple Pushcart Prize nominations, and an AWP Intro Journals Project Award in fiction. Twice appointed Artist in Residence at the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild, Rob has led workshops at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, the Anderson Island Writing Retreat, the Redding Writers Forum, and other events.
His fiction, essays and interviews have appeared in ZYZZYVA, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Indiana Review, New Delta Review, South Dakota Review, and elsewhere. His He teaches creative writing and American literature at California State University, Chico.