JOSEPH CONRAD FIRST EDITIONS AT
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London : Methuen & Co., (1911). First edition. “The man who says he has no illusions has at least that one” – Conrad with his classic of terrorism, set variously in St. Petersburg and Geneva and published 5th October 1911. “Any hesitation seems to lie, not in over-estimating, but in doing justice to the rare truth and beauty of Mr. Conrad’s latest book. No Englishman could have written it” (The Sketch, 25th October 1911).
Crown 8vo (20cm). [viii],(378) + (32)pp advertisements dated September 1911. Original red cloth, lettered and decorated in gilt; just a touch sunned; a hint of bruising; mild tanning of endpapers, but a very good copy. With the pictorial bookplate, designed by Oswald Tozeau, of Brand Whitlock (1869-1934), American author, journalist, lawyer and politician.

£400

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London : Methuen & Co., (1915). First British edition : includes an authorial note on the writing of the novel not present in the slightly earlier American edition. “There is, as every schoolboy knows in this scientific age, a very close chemical relation between coal and diamonds” – Conrad’s last masterpiece – “a matchless gift for embodying life as it is lived under extreme physical and psychological pressure”. With the cancel title-page (comma after Essex Street).
Crown 8vo (20cm). viii,(416),[iv] + (32)pp inserted advertisements dated 8/5/15. Original decorative red cloth gilt; just a touch sunned; very faint mark to spine, but a very good, clean and sound copy.

SOLD

London : John Castle, 1924. First trade edition. Two of just three plays written by Joseph Conrad, adaptations respectively of his stories "Because of the Dollars" and "Tomorrow" - both concerned, as John Galsworthy points out in his introduction, with the theme of "the suffering of a woman capable of self-sacrifice". The introduction by Galsworthy, here appearing for the first time, makes extensive use of Conrad's letters on the plays.
Crown 8vo (20cm). [viii],(378) + (32)pp advertisements dated September 1911. Original red cloth, lettered and decorated in gilt; just a touch sunned; a hint of bruising; mild tanning of endpapers, but a very good copy. With the pictorial bookplate, designed by Oswald Tozeau, of Brand Whitlock (1869-1934), American author, journalist, lawyer and politician.

£25

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London : T. Fisher Unwin, 1925. First edition. Four short stories previously unpublished in book form – “The Warrior’s Soul” – a moving tale of Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow, written during the Great War; “Prince Roman” – the Polish Patriot; “The Tale” – moral dilemmas at sea in the Great War, and “The Black Mate” – one of his earliest ventures into fiction. With a foreword by R. B. Cunninghame Graham (1852-1936). Published posthumously to the delight and acclaim of contemporary reviewers – “A substantial addition to Conrad’s best work” (The Scotsman); “one of the most remarkable books of short stories ever issued” (Daily Dispatch); “No unconsidered trifles ... They are of the stuff by which he will be judged” (Manchester Guardian).
Crown 8vo (21cm). (288)pp. Original holly cloth, ruled and lettered in gilt; some spotting of edges; one leaf with a slight production blemish; endpapers lightly tanned, but otherwise a very good, bright and sound copy in the original dust-jacket in a design by Edmondo Lucchesi (1871-1964) – the jacket just slightly creased, with a couple of tiny nicks, but also very good, clean and fresh.

£250

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