Literature
33
A Set of Six Joseph Conrad Allan H. Simmons
St Mary’s University College, London
Michael Foster
St Mary’s University College, London
Owen Knowles
University of North Texas
Description 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 Explanatory notes clarify literary and historical references, identify real-life places and people, and indicate borrowings and Gallicisms.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 returning to (and respecting) Conrad’s own early manuscript and typescript forms, this edition presents the collection and its preface in a form more authoritative than any so far printed.
Key Features • Delivers the first comprehensive critical edition of Joseph Conrad’s A Set of Six • Provides a full and authoritative history of composition and publication for the stories • Includes a rich selection of contextual materials, including explanatory notes and glossaries of foreign and nautical terms
Contents List of illustrations; General Editors’ Preface; Acknowledgements; Chronology; Abbreviations and Note on Editions; Introduction; A Set of Six; The Texts: An Essay; Apparatus; Textual Notes; Appendices; Explanatory Notes; Glossaries; Maps.
Additional Information Level: Academic Researchers, graduate students Series: The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Joseph Conrad September 2021 216 x 138 mm 450pp 978-1-107-18913-3 Hardback £84.99 / US$110.00
