Chronology
The William James Cybrary chronology has been adapted from the chronologies published in Robert Richardson's William James: in the maelstrom of American modernism (Houghton Mifflin, 2006) and Gerald Myer's William James: writings 1878-1899 (Library of America, 1992).
To report any corrections, or to suggest further events for inclusion, please contact the Cybrarian.
1842
• William James born on January 11th, Astor House, New York City.
1843
• Brother Henry born on April 15th.
• James family goes to London in October.
1844
• Family goes to Paris, then Windsor, England.
• Father Henry James Sr. has "vastation".
1845
• Family returns to New York City.
• Brother Wilky (Garth Wilkinson) born on July 21st.
1846
• Brother Bob (Robertson) born on August 29th.
1848
• Sister Alice born on August 7th.
1855
• Family moves to London, then Geneva.
• Attends boarding school.
• Family returns to London in October.
1856
• Family moves to Paris in June.
• Attends Fourierist school.
1857
• Family moves to Boulogne-sur-Mer.
• Attends Collège Impériale.
1858
• Family returns to United States and moves to Newport, Rhode Island.
• Takes up sketching in William Morris Hunt's studio.
1859
• Family goes to Geneva.
• Studies science at Geneva Academy.
1860
• Family returns to Newport, Rhode Island in October.
• Studies painting with William Morris Hunt.
1861
• Abandons painting to enter Lawrence Scientific School.
• Studies chemistry with Charles W. Eliot.
• Meets Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. and Charles S. Peirce.
1862
• Continues at Lawrence Scientific School.
• Brother Henry enters Harvard University Law School.
• Brother Wilky enlists in the Union Army, joining the 44th Massachusetts Regiment.
1863
• Continues at Lawrence Scientific School.
• Studies anatomy with Jeffries Wyman.
• Brother Wilky transfers to the 54th Massachucetts Regiment and is badly wounded at Fort Wagner on July 18th.
• Brother Bob enlists in the Union Army, joining the 55th Massachusetts Regiment.
1864
• Enters Harvard University Medical School.
• Family moves to Boston.
1865
• Joins Louis Agassiz's biological expedition to Brazil, sailing from New York CIty on April 1st.
1866
• Returns to medical school in February.
• Family moves to Cambridge, Massachusetts in November.
1867
• Travels to Europe in April.
• Attends physiology lectures in Berlin starting in September.
1868
• Visits Teplitz, Dresden, Heidelberg, Geneva, and Paris.
• Returns to Cambridge, Massachusetts in November.
1869
• Receives M.D. degree from Harvard University in June.
1870
• Cousin Minnie Temple dies on March 22nd.
• Experiences crisis, probably in April, involving a "vision" of a green-skinned youth in an asylum.
1872
• Appointed to teach physiology at Harvard University starting in spring 1873.
1873
• Appointed to teach anatomy and physiology at Harvard University but postpones appointment and sails for Europe in October.
1874
• Returns to Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• Teaches comparative vertebrate anatomy at Harvard University.
• Becomes part of the new Metaphysical Club.
1876
• Meets Alice Howe Gibbens.
• Teaches physiological psychology at Harvard University.
1877
• Meets Josiah Royce.
1878
• Delivers "The brain and the mind" lectures at John Hopkins in February.
• Signs contract with publisher Henry Holt for book on psychology.
• Marries Alice Howe Gibbens on July 10th and honeymoons in Keene Valley, New York.
1879
• Son Henry born on May 18th.
1880
• Spends summer in Europe.
• Appointed assistant professor of philosophy at Harvard University.
1882
• Mother dies on January 30th.
• Son William born on June 17th.
• Travels to Europe while wife and son stays with her mother.
• Meets Ernst Mach and Wilhelm Wundt.
• Father dies on December 18th.
1883
• Returns to Cambridge, Massachusetts in March.
• Brother Wilky dies on November 15th.
1884
• Son Herman born on January 31st.
• Edits and publishes The literary remains of the late Henry James.
1885
• Son Herman dies on July 9th.
1886
• Buys summer home in Chocorua, New Hampshire.
1887
• Daughter Peggy (Margaret Mary) born on March 24th.
1889
• Builds house at 95 Irving Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• Appointed Alford Professor of Psychology at Harvard University.
• Attends International Congress of Physiological Psychology in Paris.
• Meets Théodore Flournoy.
1890
• PublishesThe principles of psychology.
• Son Aleck born on December 22nd.
1891
• Travels to England in fall to visit sister Alice.
• Sees dramatic adaptation of brother Henry's The American in London.
• Begins correspondence with John Dewey.
1892
• Publishes Psychology: briefer course.
• Sister Alice dies on March 6th.
• Goes abroad with family for sabbatical in May.
1893
• Returns to Cambridge, Massachusetts in August.
1896
• Presents Lowell Lectures on exceptional mental states in Boston.
• Takes government-supplied peyote, obtained from Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell, as experiment.
1897
• Publishes The will to believe, and other essays in popular philosophy.
• Appointed professor of philosophy at Harvard University.
1898
• Experiences a "Walpurgisnacht" while on a hiking trip in Keene Valley, New York.
• Heart trouble begins.
• Delivers lecture "Philosophical conceptions and practical results" at University of California at Berkeley in August.
1899
• Opposes American policy in the Philippines as an active member of the Anti-Imperialist League.
• Publishes Talks to teachers on psychology: and to students on some of life's ideals.
• Travels to Bad Nauheim for heart treatments.
• Begins preparation of Gifford Lectures in Edinburgh.
1900
• Lives in Europe and works on Gifford Lectures.
1901
• Presents first series of Gifford Lectures at University of Edinburgh.
• Returns to Cambridge, Massachusetts in August.
1902
• Travels to England in April.
• Presents second series of Gifford Lectures at University of Edinburgh.
• Receives honorary LL.D. from University of Edinburgh.
• Publishes Gifford Lectures as The varieties of religious experience: a study in human nature.
1903
• Gives talks on radical empiricism at Glenmore, an informal summer philosophy school in the Adirondacks.
1904
• Publishes essays "Does 'consciousness' exist?", "The pragmatic method", and "A world of pure experience".
1905
• Travels to Europe.
• Meets Henri Bergson in Paris.
1906
• Travels to California to teach philosophy for one semester at Stanford University.
• Delivers address "The moral equivalent of war" at Stanford University.
• Experiences earthquake in San Francisco on April 18th.
• Returns to Cambridge, Massachusetts in April.
1907
• Resigns professorship at Harvard University.
• Publishes Pragmatism: a new name for some old ways of thinking.
• Awarded $3,000 a year pension from Carnegie Fund.
1908
• Delivers Hibbert Lectures at Oxford University in May.
• Receives honorary D.Sc. from Oxford University.
• Meets Bertrand Russell.
• Receives honorary Litt.D. from University of Durham.
1909
• Publishes A pluralistic universe: Hibbert Lectures at Manchester College on the present situation in philosophy in April.
• Publishes The meaning of truth: a sequel to "Pragmatism" in October.
• Meets Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung at conference at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.
1910
• Travels to England in April with wife Alice to nurse brother Henry.
• Returns to United States on August 18th.
• Dies in Chocorua, New Hampshire on August 30th.