Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- List of Maps
- Note on Geographical Names
- Genealogies
- Chronology
- Conrad’s Sea Voyages
- Joseph Conrad A Life
- I In the Shadow of Alien Ghosts: 1857–1874
- II In Marseilles: 1874–1878
- III The Red Ensign: 1878–1886
- IV Master in the British Merchant Marine: 1886–1890
- V To the End of the Night: 1890
- VI The Sail and the Pen: 1891–1894
- VII Work and Romance: 1894–1896
- VIII Strivings, Experiments, Doubts: 1896–1898
- IX Ford, The Pent, and Jim: 1898–1900
- X Difficult Maturity: 1900–1904
- XI Uphill: 1904–1909
- XII Crisis and Success: 1910–1914
- XIII Journey to Poland: 1914
- XIV The War and the Memories: 1914–1919
- XV Hope and Resignation: 1919–1924
- Epilogue
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Bibliographical Note
- Index of Names
- Index of Subjects
- Illustration Credits
- Plate section
VII - Work and Romance: 1894–1896
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 March 2023
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- List of Maps
- Note on Geographical Names
- Genealogies
- Chronology
- Conrad’s Sea Voyages
- Joseph Conrad A Life
- I In the Shadow of Alien Ghosts: 1857–1874
- II In Marseilles: 1874–1878
- III The Red Ensign: 1878–1886
- IV Master in the British Merchant Marine: 1886–1890
- V To the End of the Night: 1890
- VI The Sail and the Pen: 1891–1894
- VII Work and Romance: 1894–1896
- VIII Strivings, Experiments, Doubts: 1896–1898
- IX Ford, The Pent, and Jim: 1898–1900
- X Difficult Maturity: 1900–1904
- XI Uphill: 1904–1909
- XII Crisis and Success: 1910–1914
- XIII Journey to Poland: 1914
- XIV The War and the Memories: 1914–1919
- XV Hope and Resignation: 1919–1924
- Epilogue
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Bibliographical Note
- Index of Names
- Index of Subjects
- Illustration Credits
- Plate section
Summary
According to Legend, the discoverer of Conrad’s talent was Edward Garnett (1868–1937), who despite his youth enjoyed considerable authority as a literary critic and as a publisher’s reader for the house of Unwin. Conrad himself contributed to this legend, which was later perpetuated by Jean-Aubry. In fact, however, the first “official” reader of the manuscript of Almayer’s Folly was another of Unwin’s readers, Wilfrid Hugh Chesson (1870–1952). His opinion was favorable, and the text was passed on to Garnett. “Perhaps I may add,” said Chesson twenty-five years later, “that the purely stylistic and academic merits of Mr Conrad’s work were even in 1894 too obvious to make the ‘discovery’ of him by a literary critic much more than an evidence of reasonable attention to his business.”
As to Garnett himself, he was apparently impressed by the manuscript, but still “uncertain whether the English was good enough for publication.” Because his wife Constance, later a well-known translator from the Russian, “was much more sensitive to language and to the beauty of a writer’s style than Edward,” he showed Almayer’s Folly to her, saying that “it was the work of a foreigner and asked her opinion of his style.” According to her biographer, Constance thought that Conrad’s foreignness was a positive merit.
On 8 October 1894, Conrad paid a visit to Unwin’s office and met not only the owner of the firm but also both readers.
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- Information
- Joseph ConradA Life, pp. 197 - 224Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2007