CONRAD (Joseph).

Nostromo. A Tale of the Seaboard.

"I'd rather have written Conrad's Nostromo than any other novel" (F. Scott Fitzgerald).

First edition, first state. 8vo. Original blue cloth decorated with blue way borders, spine lettered and front cover lettered in gilt and blue. London and New York, Harper and Brothers, 1904.

£1,500.00

Described by Jacques Berthoud and Mara Kalnins as Conrad’s ‘masterpiece’: ‘Epic in scope and detail, populated by a host of major and minor characters covering the entire social spectrum, it achieves a monumentality that ranks it with the great works of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. It chronicles a period of political crisis in what Conrad called ‘the imaginary (but true)’ Republic of Costaguana, an archetypal South American state whose people are caught in a cycle of revolution and counter-revolution at the beginning of an era dominated by the impact of foreign commercial interests’ (Introduction to 2007 New Oxford Edition). The book was much admired by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who said ‘I’d rather have written Conrad’s Nostromo than any other novel.’

The correct first state, with page 187 misnumbered as 891 and the final page numbered correctly as 480. A near fine copy, only gently rubbed at extremities.

Stock No.
252591