The Bostonians was first published in The Century Illustrated Monthl Magazine between February 1885 and February 1886. Shortly after the final instalment appeared, the novel was published by Macmillan in a three-volume edition for the British market, followed by a one-volume edition for the American market (which also served as a ‘second edition’ in Britain). No manuscript of the novel is extant, nor are there any proofs of the serial or volume edition. There was no second edition and the novel was not included in the New York Edition of James's fiction (1907–9).

The text of this edition is that of the first edition in volume form (1886), slightly emended. I have followed the one-volume as opposed to the three-volume edition because it incorporates a significant structural variant, the ending of Book First at Chapter 20 instead of Chapter 18 (see below, p. cxviii). The phrase ‘THE END’ appears at the end of the one-volume edition but not at the end of volume 3 of the three-volume edition; it is retained in this edition.

The Serial

The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine began in 1881, succeeding Scribner's Monthly Magazine, which had published fiction and non-fiction by James from 1873, including one novel, Confidence, serialized in 1879. The instalments of The Bostonians appeared as follows:

February 1885 Vol. 29 [n.s. 8], no. 4, pp. 530–543 Chs. 1–5

March 1885 “ “, no. 5, pp. 686–700 Chs. 6–10 [in part]

April 1885 “ “, no. 6, pp. 893–908 Chs. 10 [contd]–14

May 1885 Vol. 30 [n.s. 9], no. 1, pp. 58–66 Chs. 15–16

June 1885 “ “, no. 2, pp. 256–264 Chs. 17–18

July 1885 “ “, no. 3, pp. 423–437 Chs. 19–21

August 1885 “ “, no. 4, pp. 553–568 Chs. 22–24

September 1885 “ “, no. 5, pp. 692–708 Chs. 25–28

October 1885 “ “, no. 6, pp. 861–881 Chs. 29–33

November 1885 Vol. 31 [n.s. 9], no. 1, pp. 85–98 Chs. 34–36 [in part]

December 1885 “ “, no. 2, pp. 205–214 Chs. 36 [contd]–38