8vo, first English edition, PRESENTATION COPY AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR JUST AFTER PUBLICATION TO THE SECRETARY WHO TYPED THIS NOVEL ("To Miss Weld | her collaborator | Henry James | Sept: 1902"), original vertically grained cloth lettered in gilt, upper cover decorated in chain design in blind, preserved in matching quarter blue morocco folding box, slight foxing to edges and endpapers, hinges partially split.

Mary Kathleen Kingdon (née Weld, 1874-1953), authorial inscription; by descent to Mary Peternel Kingdom; sale at Sotheby's 11 December 2003, see lots 134-137

Edel & Laurence A56b

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, when appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A FINE PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed by James to one of his favourite secretaries,  to whom he dictated this novel, as well as his other late masterpieces The Ambassadors and The Golden Bowl, together with various stories, essays and much correspondence. Mary (aka May) Kathleen Kingdon (née Weld, 1874-1953) worked for James from April 1901 until the summer of 1904, and he clearly developed considerable affection for her, referring to her on occasions as a "bijou" and his "little Weldina". James was pleased when she took up bookbinding, allowing her the free use of the studio in Watchbell Street adjacent to Lamb House, where she bound some of his French books. “Her punctuality, efficiency, and good nature contributed markedly to the environment he needed for this sustained period of his labours, during the last writing of his long career” (Leon Edel, Henry James: The Master 1901-1916, 1972, pp. 93-95 et passim).

The adoption of the dictation method of composition had an almost transformative effect on James's style in his most fertile years, and May Weld was indeed the author's greatest "collaborator" in this process. He began dictating The Wings of the Dove to her on 9 July 1901, three months after she began her employment with him. At Lamb House in Rye James and Miss Weld normally worked either in the upstairs Green Room (during the winter) or the detached Garden House (spring and summer). Each day work commenced with almost "military regularity" (Edel, op. cit.). James would hav💙e a hot bath, descend for breakfast "sartorially neat and often brightly-crav♓ated" and then at 10 a.m. Miss Weld arrived and work began:

"...Visitors knew they could never see the Master before lunch. The voice dictated rythmically--with long pauses--in the workshop. They could hear James pacing forward and backward, he paced constantly with the quality of a restless animal, and, it seemed, in rhythm with the familiar response of the typewriter....In the old days he had been unable to 'do over and over'...Now he revised constantly; and while revising, new metaphors , large elaborate similes, found themselves inserted in the text. Miss Weld repeatedly retyped the manuscript..." (Leon Edel, op.cit.). 

The American edition of The Wings of the Dove, in two volumes, was published by Scribner's on 21 August 1902. T🐟his English edition followed a few days later, on 30 August.