Bibliography of Edith Wharton, with emphasis on French publications

Posted on by nandankulki

A Little About Edith Wharton:

Edith Wharton was prolific writer, whose works include short stories, novels, travel essays, accounts of WWI, poetry, and a memoir. In response, people have written heavily about her. Many detailed bibliographies already exist in all sorts of formats. So, this bibliography will present only a few of her short stories and essays that have appeared in new editions, with an emphasis on her writing about France, where she lived for many years. A bibliography of bibliographies is also given here.

Her early work Motor-flight through France, published in 1908, gives her thoughts and musings during her family’s travels. In the second half of the 1910s, her stories of France were mainly concerned with the war effort. A series of articles on the subject were later compiled into Fighting France, from Dunkerque to Belfort, or La France en Guerre in its translation. She contributed to recovery from World War I by editing The Book of the Homeless, a compilation of work from various artists (from short stories to sheet music), the proceeds of which were donated (although I haven’t looked into how exactly they were distributed and utilized). She was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 1916 for her writings, her activism, and her charity work in caring for Belgian refugees.

Much fiction was also published in France soon after its publication in the U.S. and U.K. Revue Deux Mondes and Revue de Paris are two French periodicals which frequently featured her work. Translations of her novels were often translated by friends and acquaintances and serialized in a periodical before the entire translated novel was published in French. Readers of these French periodicals were granted early access to her translations, and access to some original French essays and articles as well. Stay tuned for my attempted English translation of one of her French articles later this month.

Some of her work also features photographs of regions she visited. I couldn’t figure out who took the pictures, but I don’t recall seeing Edith Wharton herself in any of them, and they weren’t credited to anyone. So perhaps she took them herself.

Bibliographies and secondary sources of Edith Wharton:

Professor Donna Campbell at Washington State University maintained a bibliographic website for Edith Wharton (https://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/wharton) for many years, but has more recently moved much of that work toa new site for the Edith Wharton Society at https://edithwhartonsociety.wordpress.com/. The new site has a massive bibliography of secondary sources from 1913 to present day, first editions, and collections of stories, and is frequently updated. I looked at several secondary sources while working on this blog post, but turns out they can all be found at the Edith Wharton Society. The biography Edith Wharton by Hermoine Lee contains detailed and interesting information about her life and relationships with her friends and colleagues.

What I can contribute through this post is a list of some more recent editions of these books, along with some information on French publications which the Edith Wharton Society has not posted. My sources include:

Some mentions of Edith Wharton:

  • British Good-Will to American Books. The Literary Digest, 73 No. 13:29, June 24 1922
    • “I can not conceive that anybody in his senses here has ever ‘mothered’ Mrs. Wharton or Mr. Hergesheimer; they are not what they are as Americans but as human beings who happen to live in America, and who write good books in the tongue which we share with America.”
  • Fair Vagabonds on Varied Highways. Travel, 38:16, Feb 1922
  • Misrepresenting New York in Fiction. The Literary Digest, 72 No. 12:27, March 5 1922
    • “Mr. [James L.] Ford names three writers who have a high reputation, but in estimating their work he does not rank them above what he calls ‘bit’ writers: ’The greatest is Mrs. Edith Wharton, who deserves highest praise for many qualities apart from the skill with which she has portrayed one or two small corners of the many strata of which the town’s social structure is composed. […]’”
  • Paris as the World’s Arbiter of Fashion. The Literary Digest, 72 No. 6:63, Feb 11 1922
    • “Why does everybody follow French fashions? Chiefly, we are assured, because of French taste. ‘And everybody knows about that!’, declares Edith Wharton, the novelist, in her recent little volume of essays on ‘French Ways and Their Meaning’ (Appleton)”
  • The Twelve Greatest Women in America. The Literary Digest, 74 No. 2:36, 38, July 8 1922
    • “’Certainly, if self-abnegation and fortitude and tireless work are the marks of greatness,’ comments The Nation, ‘great women are to be found in the vast majority of our homes. Martyrs may lean toward these domestic virtues, but greatness of other sorts demands active qualities, among them a belief that one’s work is of infinite importance, and a determination to keep driving at it at all costs.’ Recognizing this fact, the Times suggests the following list of twelve women who have achieved greatness, ‘as greatness goes in our modern American life’; […]”

I found the contexts in which Edith Wharton’s name came up to be interesting. And most of the mentions above were from just one periodical in one year. Suffice it to say, she was popular.

Focus of this bibliography:

Some works in this bibliography are chosen because multiple versions of those works exist. For example, the version of “Afterward” published in Century magazine is slightly different from the version published in the book Ghosts. Other works are original essays written in French, and the rest are sets of English works and their French translations, which were created by friends of Edith Wharton.

English works published in periodicals:

  • “Afterward”. Century, 79 No. 3:321-339, Jan 1910
  • “The Introducers”. Ainslee’s, (16:139-148, Dec 1905), (16:61-67 Jan 1906)
    • I could not find an online archive of Ainslee’s publications during these dates, so I can only guess the issue numbers are 5 and 6, if the periodical published once a month.
  • “Roman Fever”. Liberty, Nov 10, 1934.

The following works published in periodicals are Edith Wharton’s more personal accounts, in which she travels France during WWI. Many of these took the front page of their periodical, after the advertisements.

  • “In Alsace”. Saturday Evening Post, 188:9-10 Nov 15 1915
    • The date “August 13 1915” written in this article refers to the day she traveled around Alsace that year
    • This article appeared in Saturday Evening Post the same year
  • “In Argonne”. Scribner’s, 57:651-660 1915.
    • Illustrated with a map.
  • “In Lorraine and the Vosges”. Scribner’s, 58:430-442 1915
  • “In the North”. Scribner’s 58:600-610 1915
  • “The Look of Paris”. Scribner’s, 57:521-530 1915

First editions of some well-known compilations/novellas/books:

  • The Age of Innocence. D. Appleton and Company 1920 (Pulitzer Prize-winner)4
  • A Son at the Front. Charles Scribner’s Sons, Sep 1923
  • A Backward Glance. Scribner, 1934
    • Memoir
  • The Book of the Homeless. Charles Scribner’s Sons 1916.
    • Compilation of work of various artists, edited by Edith Wharton. Proceeds went to helping common people in France recover after WWI.
  • Ethan Frome. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1911
  • Fighting France, from Dunkerque to Belfort. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1915
    • This is a compilation of The Look of Paris, In Argonne, In Lorraine and the Vosges, In the North, and In Alsace, with the addition of The Tone of France.
  • Ghosts. D. Appleton-Century Company, 1937
    • Published posthumously. Similar to Tales of Men and Ghosts, except with a new story All Souls, the removal of Bottle of Perrier, and the addition of The Looking Glass.
    • D. Appleton and Company merged with Century in 1933. The publisher of the first edition of Ghosts is mislabeled as D. Appleton and Company on some sites
    • Ghosts contains a version of the short story Afterward with some word-forms and punctuation differing from the 1910 version published in the Century periodical.
  • The House of Mirth. Charles Scribbler’s Sons, 1905
  • In Morroco. Charles Scribner’s Sons 1920.
    • Accounts of travels in Morroco
  • Old New York. D. Appleton and Company, 1924
  • Summer. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912
  • Tales of Men and Ghosts. Scribner’s, both 1910
    • A compilation of stories published in Scribner’s and Century between 1909 and 1919: The Bolted Door, His Father’s Son, The Daunt Diana, The Debt, Full Circle, The Legend, The Eyes, The Blond Beast, Afterward, and The Letters.
  • The World Over. D. Appleton-Century Company 1936
    • A compilation of short stories. This contains another version of Roman Fever.

French works published in periodicals:

  • “Au Temps de l’Innocence”. Serialized in Revue Deux Mondes, (60:225-266 1920), (60:490-530 1920), (60:774-808 1920)
    • A translation of the novel The Age of Innocence.
  • “La Demeure de Liesse”. Revue de Paris, 1906-1907
    • The title translates to The House of Mirth. I was unable to find this on the Revue de Paris publications archived on Hathi Trust, but many of Wharton’s works were quickly followed up with a serialization in this periodical. This could very well be the start.
  • “Les Deux Autres”. Revue Deux Mondes, 44:673-695, April 1 1908
  • “Échéance”. Revue Deux Mondes, 46:652-675, July 1 1908
  • “Les Marocaines chez elles”. Revue Deux Mondes, 45:864-82, June 15 1918.
    • An article showing Wharton’s perception and accounts of Moroccan culture. Appears to be distinct from In Morocco.
  • “Les Metteurs en Scene”. 47:692-708, Oct 1908
    • The story “Les Metteurs en Scene” is a French version of The Introducers, some of which is different from the English version.
  • “Sous la neige”. Revue de Paris, Feb 1 1912, Feb 15 1912, March 1 1912
    • A translation of Ethan Frome. According to Edith Wharton by Hermoine Lee, Wharton helped with this translation, and then wrote that it was “singularly bad”.
  • “La Tragédie de la Muse”. La Revue hebdomandaire. 525-546, May 1900
  • “Visites au Front: En Argonne et En Lorraine Et Dans les Vosges”. Revue Deux Mondes, 32 No. 2:285-314, March 15 1916
  • “Visites au Front: II: Dans le Nord et en Alsace” Revue Deux Mondes, 32 No. 4:788-817, April 15 1916

French works published as books:

  • Au Temps de l’Innocence. Plon-Nourrit et Cie, 1921
    • Translation of The Age of Innocence.
  • Chez les heureux du monde. Preface by Paul Bourget. Plon-Nourrit et Cie, 1908
    • This is a known published translation of The House of Mirth. Perhaps La Demeure de Liesse was the working French title during printing in the periodical, and it was later changed.
  • La France en guerre 1914-1915. Tournon, 2007
    • Second edition to Voyages au front, de Dunkerque à Belfort.
  • Les Metteurs en Scene 3e édition. Plon-Nourrit et Cie, 1909
    • This publication is a collection of French translations of 8 stories: “Les Metteurs en Scene”, “Les Deux Autres”, “Échéance”, “Lendemain”, “La Tragédie de la Muse”, “Le Confessionnal”, “Le Verdict”, and “L’Ermite et la Femme Sauvage”. I have added this third edition to the bibliography as I could not find a reliable source for who published the first edition and when.
  • Plein été. Plon-Nourrit, 1918.
    • Wharton’s first novella published in France, a translation of Summer.
  • Un Fils au Front. Plon-Nourrit, 1924
    • A translation of A Son at the Front.
  • Un Fils sur le Front. Flammarion, Feb 4 2004
    • Another edition of Un Fils au Front.
  • Vieux New York. Flammarian, 1989
    • Translation of Old New York
  • Voyages au front, de Dunkerque à Belfort. Plon-Nourrit et Cie, 1916
    • Translation of Fighting France, from Dunkerque to Belfort. Includes an essay titled “L’Âme de la France”.

Adaptations:

See the Edith Wharton Society for film adaptations: https://edithwhartonsociety.wordpress.com/works/film-adaptations/

  • The Age of Innocence. Adapted by Douglas McGrath for theatre, 2018
  • The “Lights Out” radio show ran from 1946 to 1952, and did horror and suspense stories including works by Edith Wharton.

Helpful resources:

Nearly all periodicals referenced in this post can be found on one of those sites;

Some disclaimers:

I do not know if there’s a difference between the publishers Plon, Plon-Nourrit and Plon-Nourrit et Cie. If there is, then this bibliography may have some misinformation about who published what. This bibliography is in no way comprehensive.

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