The Aspern Papers

novelette by James

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Article History

The Aspern Papers, novelette by Henry James, published in 1888, first in The Atlantic Monthly (March–May) and then in the collection The Aspern Papers, Louisa Pallant, The Modern Warning.

In “The Aspern Papers,” an unnamed American editor rents a room in Venice in the home of Juliana Bordereau, the elderly mistress of Jeffrey Aspern, a deceased Romantic poet, in order to procure from her the poet’s papers. Bordereau, a stingy, domineering woman, lives with her timid middle-aged niece, Tina. (The niece was named Tita until James revised the text in 1908.) The manipulative editor, obsessed with possessing the Aspern papers, exhibits progressively unscrupulous behaviour, such as assuming an alias, making false romantic overtures to Tina, and attempting burglary. When Bordereau dies, Tina offers the editor the coveted documents on the condition that he marry her. He initially refuses but returns to negotiate, only to find that Tina, in a display of newfound dignity, has burned the papers.

The novelette was inspired by an actual incident involving Claire Clairmont, once the mistress of Lord Byron.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.