First edition, presentation copy to his friend Henrietta, Countess of Airlie, inscribed by the recipient on the half-title of each volume.
She and her husband were friends of the author; the family archive contains correspondence that indicates Henry James saw them both in London and on visits to Scotland.
The Countess of Airlie was grandmother of Clementine Churchill and great grandmother of the famous Mitford sisters. Edel & Laurence state that the first printing was of 500 copies, published 16 February 1886, with a second undifferentiated impression of 100 copies the following month.
