Conrad, Joseph

8vo, first edition of the author's second book, one of around 1,000 copies, presentation copy inscribed by Conrad on the front endpaper ("From the Author"), title page in red and black, original dark green vertically ribbed cloth, spine lettered in gilt, top edge gilt, the others untrimmed, very minor darkening to edges of margins, slight offsetting to endpapers, upper hinge starting, minor wear and stains to covers

Sotheby's at Chancery Lane, 26 April 1979, lot 99; Lots 97-139 ("The Property of a Lady") comprised a collection of inscribed presentation copies of works by Conrad and others, all from the library of John Galsworthy. Some of these others were also acquired later by Stanley Seeger: see lot 57 in the present sale, for instance, the dedication copy of Nostromo  from 1904.

Cagle A2a(1)

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."

The copy Conrad gave to John Galsworthy. The modesty of the inscription is interesting, suggestive of an early formality in the relationship that later became one of the most important of Conrad's life. Conrad and Galsworthy had first met three years earlier, when Conrad was first mate of the Torrens, and met both Galsworthy and Ted Sanderson, who were making the passage from Australia to England. Galsworthy later wrote a vivid account of his first impressions of Conrad on board that ship, brilliantly encapsulating the character, and intellectual and emotional depth of his great friend-to-be:

"It was in March, 1893, that I first met Conrad on board the English sailing ship Torrens in Adelaide harbour. He was superintending the stowage of cargo. Very dark he looked in the burning sunlight, tanned, with a peaked brown beard, almost black hair, and dark brown eyes, over which the lids were deeply folded. He was thin, not tall, his arms very long, his shoulders broad, his head set rather forward. He spoke to me with a strong foreign accent. He seemed to me strange on an English ship. For fifty-six days I sailed in his company. The chief mate bears the main burden of a sailing ship. All the first night he was fighting a fire in the hold. None of us seventeen passengers knew of it till long after. It was he who had most truck with the tail of that hurricane off the Leeuwin, and later with another storm: a good seaman, watchful of the weather; quick in handling the apprentices... With the crew he was popular; they were individuals to him, not a mere gang... On that ship he told of life, not literature. On my last evening he asked me at the Cape to his cabin, and I remember feeling that he outweighed for me all the other experiences of that voyage. Fascination was Conrad's great characteristic - the fascination of vivid expressiveness and zest, of his deeply affectionate heart, and his far-ranging, subtle mind. He was extraordinarily perceptive and receptive ("Reminiscences of Conrad", 1924)

JOHN GALSWORTHY (1867--1933), novelist, dramatist and short-story writer (winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932). In 1893 Galsworthy and his fellow Harrovian E.L. Sanderson had been to Australia and then to the South Seas in quest of Robert Louis Stevenson: “they missed Stevenson, but found Conrad. From that meeting developed two of the longest and most equable friendships of Conrad’s life” (Knowles and Moore). Conrad was the senior author, reading his friend's early manuscripts such as  Jocelyn (1898) and A Man of Devon (1901), advising him and helping him get his work noticed and published. Galsworthy, however, was a writer very different from himself, being steeped in the English national tradition, earnest and concerned with the issues of genteel society, and less interested in stylistic or technical development or refinement. The cosmopolitan Conrad, on the other hand, was schooled in the French tradition of le mot juste. While Galsworthy wrote quickly and easily and naturally appealed to a middle-class audience the more marginalised Conrad, at least in writing his greatest works, often struggled and laboured under the burden of completing them, as he sought to fulfil the range of the vision behind them. Despite their different backgrounds the two were the closest of friends, and ten years of this friendship lies behind Conrad’s dedication of Nostromo to Galsworthy in 1904 (see lot 57). In 1906 Conrad named his younger son John in honour of his friend. A further reason for the friendship was Conrad’s sympathetic understanding of Galsworthy’s difficult personal situation soon after they met: in 1895 the latter had formed a close attachment with Ada Galsworthy (neé Pearson, 1864--1956) the wife of a first cousin, and Ada was not free to marrying him until after her divorce ten years later. Conrad wrote the preface to Ada’s translation of several of Maupassant’s stories in 1904 (see lot 115). In return for Conrad’s advice and good reviews Galsworthy reciprocated with “constant emotional support, considerable financial help, hospitality at his London homes, and even proof-reading” (Knowles and Moore). In 1910, following a campaign waged for two years, Galsworthy secured for his friend an annual Civil List Pension of £100. Edward Garnett said of Galsworthy that he is “an excellent fellow, a good Briton and one neither stiff nor prejudiced...[but he] sees things always through the eyes of a Clubman who carries England with him wherever he goes” (quoted in Jefferson). Conrad, on the other hand, was in many ways at the other end of the spectrum: sceptical, deeply inquisitive and inquiring, and through his work putting himself in the minds and milieux of peoples across the globe. Despite their divergent outlooks the friendship was close, solid and long-lasting. One of the most sensitive and acute obituary tributes of Conrad after his death in 1924 was Galsworthy’s “Reminiscences of Conrad: 1924“.