Conrad, Joseph

autograph manuscript, corrections and revisions throughout, with a note at the head of the first page ("My contribution The Lesson of the Collision to the Illd. Lond: News was criticised in letters to Editors of the Globe & the Dly Express. This reply on my part was written mainly in answer to the criticism of Capt. Littlehales Master in Mercht Service, with a passing allusion to certain abusive communications signed with various pseudonyms. 'Tom Moore' was one of them"), 7 numbered pages, folio (330 x 200 mm, watermarked "English Made Bank | Rock Bros. Ltd"), signed and dated 10 June 1914, housed in a purple cloth folding box, minor nicks, pin holes

Sold to T.J. Wise, June 1920; Maggs, catalogue 449 (1924), no. 120; Rosenbach, catalogue 26 (1933), no. 79; Sotheby's, New York, 15 June 1990, lot 37

Moore, 208

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

"...I wouldn't dream of blaming men for doing or omitting to do anything a person sitting in a perfectly safe and unsinkable study may think of. All my sympathy goes to the two captains ... I may not know a great lot but I know how anxious and perplexing are those nearly end-on approaches, so infinitely more trying to the men in charge than a frank night crossing..."

A newspaper letter showing Conrad's continued engagement with maritime life twenty years after retiring from the sea, in which he defends his suggestion that greater use of fenders could save lives in collisions ("...Twice in my sea-life I had occasion to be impressed [by] the preserving effect of a fender..."). Conrad was writing in the immediate aftermath of the sinking of The Empress of Ireland, an ocean liner operated by Canadian Pacific Steamships, which sank on the St Lawrence River on 29 May 1914 following a collision with the Storstad, a Norwegian collier. More than 1,000 people were killed, making it one of the deadliest maritime disasters ever recorded. Conrad's response to the disaster, "Protection of Ocean Liners", was written for the Illustrated London News. As Conrad explains in his note at the head of this manuscript, the article generated a number of responses to which Conrad replied in this letter, which was printed in the Daily Express under the heading "Protect the Ocean Liners. Would a Fender Have Saved the Empress of Ireland?" The letter, together with Conrad's original article, was reprinted in Notes on Lives and Letters (1921).