Lot 34
  • 34

Conrad, Joseph and Ford Madox Hueffer

Estimate
2,500 - 3,500 GBP
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Description

  • Conrad, Joseph and Ford Madox Hueffer
  • The Inheritors. An Extravagant Story. New York: McClure, Phillips & Co., 1901
  • paper
8vo, first edition, the rare pre-publication state with misprint on dedication page ("To Boys & Christina"), original pictorial beige smooth cloth, upper cover with illustration depicting a man and a woman with view of Canterbury in the background, spine lettered in black, preserved in matching cloth case, hinges slightly split, covers slightly stained and worn

Provenance

apparently a duplicate of Indiana University Libraries, with label and shelfmark on lower paste-down ("...copy 3...")

Literature

Cagle A6a; Harvey A9a

Condition

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, when appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Conrad and Hueffer's joint work The Inheritors was first printed in America following almost simultaneous agreement by the authors with  Heinemann and Robert McClure in late February 1901 for the English and American rights respectively. It was necessary to have the book set up in type to secure US copyright, so it was decided that the American publishers "would furnish Heinemann with electroplates... for the English printing" (Cagle p.61). The error in the dedication page was detected "after only a few copies had left the publisher's hands" (op.cit.). Conrad himself thought only four copies escaped with the uncancelled leaf; Cagle located six: copies at the Beinecke, the Lilly Library, the University of Texas, the Library of Congress (the one surviving of the two deposit copies), and the private collection of Kenyon Law Starling. A few other copies have surfaced at auction since Cagle conducted his research: e.g. the copy sold in these rooms on 19 July 1994 (£1,600).

The Inheritors, a political extravaganza, was the first collaboration between Conrad and Hueffer. "How [Hueffer] worked! There is not a chapter I haven't made him write twice - most of them three times over. This is collaboration if you like!... the expenditure of nervous fluid was immense. There were moments when I cursed the day I was born and dared not look up at the light of day I had to live through with this thing on my mind. H[ueffer] has been as patient as no angel had ever been. I've been fiendish. I've been rude to him; if I've not called him names I've implied... the most opprobrious epithets..." (letter to Garnett, 26 March 1900)