First Life

The twenty-six essays collected in Notes on Life and Letters (first published 1921) offer a kaleidoscopic view of Joseph Conrad's literary views and interest in the events of his day, including the Titanic disaster, First World War, and the re-emergence of his native Poland as a nation state. The introduction gives the history of the gathering of these diverse pieces into a single volume, traces the book's reception, and offers new perspectives on its relationship to Conrad's other writings. His essays underwent multiple layers of unauthorized intervention by typists, compositors and editors: this history is set out in the essay on the text and in the apparatus. The notes explain literary and historical references, identify places mentioned, and gloss foreign terms. Two maps supplement the explanatory material. This edition, first published in 2004 and established through modern textual scholarship, presents Conrad's essays and reviews in an authoritative form.

A Set of Six (1908) is one of Conrad's most versatile and varied compositions, embracing diverse interests and settings, multiple tonal qualities and a medley of short-story forms (ranging from the novella in 'The Duel' to the anecdotal tale in 'The Informer'). The volume's wide-ranging introduction offers a careful evaluation of the origins and sources of the individual stories, while also measuring their early reception as a published collection. Explanatory notes clarify literary and historical references, identify real-life places and people, and indicate borrowings and Gallicisms. The lengthy textual essay and its accompanying apparatus lay out the history of composition and publication, detailing interventions made by Conrad's typists, compositors and editors. Also included are appendices, allowing the reader first-hand access to Conrad's source material; glossaries of nautical and foreign terms; and illustrations in the form of maps and reproductions of early drafts. By returnin

'I asked myself what I was doing there, with a sensation of panic in my heart as though I had blundered into a place of cruel and absurd mysteries not fit for a human being to behold'. Charles Marlow's dark intuition here arrives at the culmination of his physical and psychological quest in search of the infamous ivory-trader Kurtz in Joseph Conrad's most famous short story, Heart of Darkness. Ambiguously drawn to the powerful 'voice' of this autocratic European who has become a self-proclaimed ruler in an African colony, Marlow is increasingly embroiled in Kurtz's life and death: he is finally forced into a radical questioning, not only of his own assumptions, but also of the civilized and imperial pretensions of Western Europe. Offering a freshly-researched text based on the writer's original documents, this edition presents a classic of early modernist fiction in a version that, for the first time, recovers Conrad's preferred wordings, punctuation and narrative structure.

'I asked myself what I was doing there, with a sensation of panic in my heart as though I had blundered into a place of cruel and absurd mysteries not fit for a human being to behold'. Charles Marlow's dark intuition here arrives at the culmination of his physical and psychological quest in search of the infamous ivory-trader Kurtz in Joseph Conrad's most famous short story, Heart of Darkness. Ambiguously drawn to the powerful 'voice' of this autocratic European who has become a self-proclaimed ruler in an African colony, Marlow is increasingly embroiled in Kurtz's life and death: he is finally forced into a radical questioning, not only of his own assumptions, but also of the civilized and imperial pretensions of Western Europe. Offering a freshly-researched text based on the writer's original documents, this edition presents a classic of early modernist fiction in a version that, for the first time, recovers Conrad's preferred wordings, punctuation and narrative structure.

The five stories brought together in Tales of Unrest (1898) mark a turning point in the writer's career. Conrad's first short story collection evidences a writer firmly in control of his new craft staking a claim to diverse cultural and fictional territories. The introduction situates the writing of these stories in Conrad's career and discusses their sources and contemporary reception. The explanatory notes identify literary and historical references and real-life places, and indicate influences. Two maps and six illustrations enrich the explanatory matter. The essay on the text lays out the history of the work's composition and publication, details interventions by Conrad's typists, compositors and editors, and explains editorial policy. This edition, established through modern textual scholarship, presents Conrad's stories and his preface to the collection in forms more authoritative than any so far printed.

Since its first appearance in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine in 1899 and 1900, Lord Jim (1900) has been acclaimed as a modernist masterwork. Its narrative innovations and psychological complexity make it one of the most influential fictions written in the twentieth century and it has challenged and stimulated generations of readers as well as writers on and of fiction. This edition, established through modern textual scholarship, presents Conrad's novel and its preface in a form more authoritative than any so far printed. The Introduction situates the novel in Conrad's career and traces its sources and contemporary reception. The explanatory notes identify literary and historical references and real-life places and indicate Conrad's main influences. Glossaries, maps and illustrations are provided for further context, as well as a new transcription of 'Tuan Jim: A Sketch', a partial draft of the novel, and appearing in print for the first time, Conrad's contract for the book.

Published posthumously in 1925, Suspense is set in Genoa in early 1815. This edition of Conrad's last novel, established through modern textual scholarship, presents the text in a form more authoritative than any so far printed. The introduction situates the novel in Conrad's career and traces its sources and contemporary reception. The explanatory notes explain literary and historical references, identify real-life places and indicate Conrad's main research materials. A glossary of foreign words and phrases enriches the explanatory matter, as do four illustrations and a map. A notebook of Conrad's research for the novel and deleted drafts are published here for the first time. The essay on the text and apparatus lay out the history of the work's composition and publication and detail interventions in the text by Richard Curle, who, as Conrad's de facto literary executor, saw the novel into print, along with typists, compositors and editors.

Bringing together work composed from 1890 to 1924, the nineteen pieces collected in the posthumously published Last Essays (1926) serve as a primer to Conrad's wide interests and to the varieties of his style. This edition, supported by an extensive textual apparatus, brings together various prose pieces, including reminiscences, reviews, essays on the sea and politics, as well as several miscellaneous items, including his 'Congo Diary' and the other notebook he kept in Africa in 1890. The introduction situates these writings in Conrad's career, offers new perspectives on Conrad in the marketplace and as a writer of occasional prose and traces the contemporary reception of the volume. The notes explain literary and historical references, identify real-life places and indicate Conrad's main sources. Early drafts and notes for several essays are published here for the first time, making this authoritative critical edition a major contribution to Conrad studies.

This landmark nine-volume set offers the complete letters of Joseph Conrad in the highly acclaimed authorised Cambridge edition. Starting with his earliest letters to his imprisoned father and following through his adult careers at sea and as a writer, and his experiences as lover, husband, friend, and parent, these volumes allow scholars to read Conrad's life in his own words. The first eight volumes present over four thousand letters in chronological order. The final volume includes, as well as a cumulative index to the edition, more than two hundred newly available letters, adding fresh nuances and complexities to the remarkable story of his life and work. In each volume, extensive explanatory notes and invaluable introductions illuminate the context of his work and times. This edition has become a standard reference work for all scholars and students of Conrad, and will retain its importance for generations to come.

Almayer's Folly, published in 1895, is Joseph Conrad's first novel. Set in the late 19th century, it centers on the life of the Dutch trader Kaspar Almayer in the Borneo jungle and his relationship to