The Collected Letters of Joseph Conrad, Volume 3: 1903-1907

Conrad, Joseph (edited by Frederick R. Karl & Laurence Davies)

ISBN 10: 0521323878 / ISBN 13: 9780521323871

Published by Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1988

About this Item

1988. xliii, 532pp. B&W images. "The period covered by the third volume of a projected eight marks the years when Conrad stood at the height of his powers. It was during this time that he completed Nostromo and The Secret Agent. Yet, it was also a time of great personal unhappiness: his plans for leisurely, contemplative work were constantly interrupted by dangerous illnesses in the family, his own bad health, financial worries, and the pleas of editors desperate for copy. Conrad maintained his correspondence with old friends such as Galsworthy, Wells, and Ford, and developed a number of new friendships. This is also the period when Conrad became absorbed in political fiction, reflected in an intriguing series of letters dealing with Poland, the Congo, Latin America, and censorship. As always, the letters to his agent J.B. Pinker provide a detailed--and largely unpublished--account of the writer's monthly and weekly plans and literary commitments." The unclipped dust jacket has very light wear to edges. Book has gilt titles to blue spine panel and and a gilt garland with 'JC' in the centre to the upper board. Pages and contents in excellent condition with no inscriptions.

Seller Inventory # LitConrad016

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Collected Letters of Joseph Conrad, Volume 3: 1903-1907
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
• Publication Date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521323878
• ISBN 13: 9780521323871
• Binding: Original black cloth Hardback
• Edition: First Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good Plus
• Seller catalogs:
  • Literature

About this title

Synopsis

This is the third of the projected eight-volume edition comprising all the surviving letters of Joseph Conrad under the general editorship of Professor Frederick R. Karl. When completed, it will have assembled about 4,000 letters, over a third of them published before only in defective versions. As with previous volumes in the series, this volume contains an editorial introduction, illustrations, and extensive annotation. The period covered by the third volume is 1903 to 1907 when Conrad stood at the height of his powers. It was during these years that he completed Nostromo and The Secret Agent. Yet this was not a happy time for him: his plans for leisurely, contemplative work were constantly interrupted by dangerous illnesses in the family, his own bad health, financial worries, and the pleas of editors desperate for copy. Conrad maintained his correspondence with old friends such as Galsworthy, Wells, and Ford Madox Ford, and developed a number of new friendships. This is also the period in which Conrad became absorbed in political fiction, and this is reflected in an intriguing sequence of America, and censorship. As always, the letters to his literary agent J. B. Pinker provide a detailed (and largely unpublished) account of Conrad's plans and literary commitments, week by week, month by month.

Review

"The scholarly wealth and care of this edition, the clarity of lay-out and secondary material are beyond praise. This represents the archival energy of American scholarship at its finest." George Steiner, The Sunday Times

"These letters are impeccably edited and presented...To anyone interested in the history of fiction writing or the emergence of modernism, they are indispensable." Tony Tanner, The Times Higher Education Supplement

"One of the advantages of this new collection -- besides that of providing accurate texts of unpublished correspondence and of the many letters that have long been available in unreliable editions -- is that it enables us to appreciate the extent to which some of Conrad's letters are themselves part of his achievement at a prose writer." Louis Menand, The New York Review of Books

"Altogether, this volume (like the preceding ones already published in this edition) is a book that anyone interested in Joseph Conrad's emergence as a major English novelist will wish to have. It will certainly become an indispensable guide and invaluable source for literary scholars: the editorial principles on which it is based are clearly indicated and scrupulously observed; the scholarly apparatus itself is impressively thorough and careful, without being obtrusive or distracting." Brian Thomas, Conradiana