Conrad, Joseph

a charming and insightful correspondence charting nearly fifteen years of friendship, discussing Conrad's own books including Nostromo ("...You are one of the small and select band of choice spirits who understand what I attempted in Nostromo – and, in a certain measure, achieved...”) and his doubts over a theatrical adaptation of Lord Jim ("...The story is in itself nothing, it is composed of detached episodes, and such value as it may have depends purely on its literary quality...”), sending Holland books (his own and also works by Turgenev), and writing of family affairs ranging from thanks for a toy circus for his son John (“…the young ruffian … is greatly delighted with the ‘Efelant’…”) to Borys's war record, and offering his advice on fatherhood (“...In the paternal relation one must not expect too much. Neither one’s hopes nor one’s fears (thank God) are ever fully realised, and natural affection helps to smooth the differences that may arise…”) as well as discussing their sons' future in the changed political climate after World War One ("...Your boys and mine will have to make the best of a different world. Yet perhaps it will not be so intolerable as it appears to us in perspective. And they are young – they will adapt themselves (they jolly well will have to) to the changed atmosphere and to the new ‘sentiment of life’ – for that they will be amongst those that will ‘fully survive’ I will not and cannot doubt…”) , 24 pages, various sizes, Aldington, near Hythe, Capel House, Orlestone, near Ashford, and Oswalds, Bishopsbourne, all in Kent, 4 December 1909 to 29 December 1923, with three autograph envelopes and an offprint on Holland's library from the Times Literary Supplement (12 October 1940), occasional light staining

Collected Letters, V, pp.226-27, 245, 324-25, 344, VII, pp. 77-78, 400, 459, VIII, pp.253-54, IX, pp.140-141, 145-46

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."

Michael James Holland (1870-1956) spent much of his early adulthood in Africa, where he was involved in copper mining around Tanganyika and became an experienced safari leader - one of Conrad's letters thanks Holland for writing "after slaughtering the rogue elephant". He volunteered for service in World War One and won the Military Cross for gallantry during service in East Africa. He was also a keen book collector, and his fine Conrad collection shared shelf space with inscribed books by writers such as Housman and Yeats, as well as first editions of Philemon Holland and an extensive travel library. These letters reveal a comfortable friendship based on a shared love of literature, travel, and family. Holland was for some years a near neighbour of the Conrads in Kent, living at Smeeth Hill, near Aldington. Several letters refer to visits, indeed in one letter Conrad gives a memorable account of repairing one of the gears on his car with "a piece of string and a rusty nail" after a break-down on the way to visit Holland.