Conrad, Joseph

an unusually witty and light-hearted letter including a wry statement of his artistic credo written to his publisher from his honeymoon in Brittany ("...We only took possession of our own hut, hovel, cottage (or whatever other name it deserves) this very afternoon..."), noting with some pride the reviews of An Outcast of the Islands ("... According to the critical mind I am this and that, sublime or repulsive, Stevenson-like or Victor Hugo-like - but no-body (I think) accused me of being commonplace...") and continuing in ironic terms about his intention to cater to popular taste and disregard his writerly instincts, followed by a summary of The Rescue with similarly ironic promises ("...Everybody or almost everybody in the tale shall be virtuous and beautiful and high minded. And even the wicked people shall wash their faces in rose water and brush their hair smoothly..."), 8 pages, 8vo, Ile-Grande, par Lannion, Cotes-du-Nord, France, 9 April 1896

Sotheby's, New York, 15 June 1990, lot 37 (portion); Christie's, New York, 14 December 2000, lot 29

Collected Letters, IX, pp.27-28

Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, where appropiate.
"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."

"...I shall be as untrue to my emotions, as callous to my feelings - as I have hitherto tried to be responsive and true. I piously hope that I shall succeed in squinting in the most approved fashion at nature and at men instead of looking at the world straight - according to the dictates of my heart and the perspective of my mind, as I (misguided ass) endeavoured to do till now. For my characters I shall take Angels of Light and Darkness instead of the common average sinners in whom (owing to my taste for low company) I have been interested to this day. I shall reform - but I shall never, never repent!..."

Thomas Fisher Unwin (1848-1935) had started his publishing business in 1882 and soon established a name for himself for his willingness to take on unknown and experimental writers. This letter, in which Conrad views his own his literary ambitions with a typically ironic eye, was written at a moment of personal and professional exhilaration. At any other moment Unwin would have been an unlikely recipient for such an intimate letter, for although he provided crucial early support for Conrad and published his first three books, he was notoriously irascible with a cold and impersonal manner - Conrad once complained that "he numbs me like an electric eel" (Collected Letters, I, p.281). He was also a ruthless negotiator, broke with Conrad when he refused the terms the author demanded for The Nigger, and was later satirised as the philistine Polehampton in The Inheritors. This letter includes one of Conrad's earliest references to The Rescue, which Conrad had begun before his marriage and was hoping to complete the following year (see lot 21), but which occupied him for another twenty years before finally reaching print.