The House of Mirth (1905)
by Edith Wharton

The House of Mirth is a 1905 novel by Edith Wharton. It is centered on Lily Bart, a New York socialite who attempts to secure a husband and a place in affluent society. It was one of the first novels of manners to emerge in American literature.
Wharton did not appreciate the illustrations which the publisher commissioned for the work by A. B. Wenzell, and in a letter to Scribner's Sons she wrote "...even when I sank to the depth of letting the illustrations be put in the book--& oh, I wish I hadn't now..."[1]

  1. The Edith Wharton Society
80990The House of Mirth1905Edith Wharton

THE HOUSE
OF MIRTH

EDITH WHARTON

THE HOUSE OF MIRTH

She lingered on the broad stairway, looking down into the hall below.
She lingered on the broad stairway, looking down into the hall below.

She lingered on the broad stairway, looking down into the hall below.

THE HOUSE OF MIRTH

BY

EDITH WHARTON

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY A. B. WENZELL

NEW YORK

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

MDCCCCV

copyright, 1905, by charles scribner's sons.

Charles Scribner's Sons logo
Charles Scribner's Sons logo

ILLUSTRATIONS

She lingered on the broad stairway, looking down into the hall below Frontispiece
The woman continued to stare as Miss Bart swept by Facing p. 20
"You don't seem to remember my existence nowadays" 188
"I mean to make you hear me out" 234
"Oh, Gerty, the furies . . . you know the noise of their wings?" 264
"Dear Mr. Selden," she said, "you promised to see me to my cab" 352
It was a good deal better than a broiling Sunday in town 376
"Look at those spangles, Miss Bart,—every one of 'em sewed on crooked" 456

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.


The longest-living author of this work died in 1937, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 86 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

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