Edwin Cady in his multi-volume study of William Dean Howells places

among the author’s first rate novel (269). The book is a product of Howells’ later years written during his middle sixties and immediately after a series of unsuccessful novels that were causing some critics to question his continuing ability as a writer. It appears that he began his manuscript in late 1902 and finished it in July 1903. It was first published in serial form between January-August 1904 in the

. On October 6, 1904 it was published as a book by Harper and Brothers (Burrows, xiii). Howells’ records show that as early as 1894 he had been considering the novel’s central idea, “a son who prevents his mother’s second marriage from devotion to his…

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Citation: Loges, Max Lester. "The Son of Royal Langbrith". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 April 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7776, accessed 25 November 2024.]