Conrad, Joseph

8vo, FIRST SEPARATE (AND REVISED) EDITION OF THE AUTHOR'S "MANIFESTO", 7pp. stapled pamphlet (as issued), SIGNED BY CONRAD at head of p.1 and with one small correction by him, and with a FOUR-LINE INSCRIPTION BY CONRAD, SIGNED, on p.7 ("This preface suppressed on the advice of the | publishers was printed by Mr Henley at the end of | serial publication in the N[ew] R[eview] as an afterword | J.C."), preserved in green cloth chemise and matching morocco-backed cloth slipcase, minor rust stains around single staple and pages detached, morocco of slipcase faded

Estelle Doheny, green morocco book label (sale Christie's New York, 17 October 1988, lot 1205)

Cagle A3f; Karl, Joseph Conrad: the Three Lives, 1979; Knowles and Moore, The Oxford Reader's Companion to Conrad, 2000

the condition of this lot is as described in the catalogue description
"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."

One hundred copies of this 'suppressed preface' were privately printed for Conrad by J. Lovick of Hythe. Forty of these copies, however, were accidentally destroyed by Conrad.

Sidney Pawling of Heinemann refused to print the text of Conrad's preface with the novel and, although it had appeared in the New Review for December 1897, it did not appear in book form until the 1914 Doubleday & Page edition in the United States. Only in 1921 did it appear as a preface in Heinemann's collected edition.

Knowles and Moore note that "this 'Preface' has... come to be seen as Conrad's artistic manifesto" (p.326). For Karl it is "a document of overwhelming personal and aesthetic importance for him. It was... his personal summation of the life of the artist up to 1897 and... a harbinger of the artist to come" (p.394).