Henry James in New York
The editors provide commentary on Henry James' first essay concerning Honoré de Balzac; in particular, they reference the year 1875 and how his time in New York sets the stage for his criticism of the author. James takes a more critical stance than he later does about Balzac, and the editors' imagery of his time in New York during the 1870s shows the basis for his perception of Balzac's faults.
James on Hawthorne's "Note-Books"
On p. 107, Henry James provides visual cues and details about what he has learned from studying Hawthorne's notebooks. He describes the physical process of Hawthorne as evidenced by observations of the content and design of these notes. Such imagery leads to the question of Hawthorne's own valuations of what he wrote.
Story
During his essay on Ivan Turgénieff, Henry James uses personification to justify his string of images regarding the concept of a story. His drawing together of concepts by Walter Scott, Wordsworth, and French terms provides him the stage to depict the story as a collection of images such as phantoms and creatures.
Experience
The essay "Criticism" uses imagery of how good criticism can be written; in it, Henry James shows how engagement with a topic can cause swift motion to write. He provides a relation between number of intense experiences and the impetus to create. Imagery about these experiences is indispensable to his take on literary criticism.
