An Outcast of the Islands

The first comprehensive and authoritative critical edition of Conrad's second novel, An Outcast of the Islands (1896).

Joseph Conrad (Author), Allan H. Simmons (Edited by)

9781107126442, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 April 2016

522 pages, 6 b/w illus. 1 map
22.3 x 14.5 x 3.4 cm, 0.77 kg

'… Allan H. Simmons, in his edition of An Outcast of the Islands, clearly and efficiently presents the history of the text, including the likely provenance of the printer's copy of Doubleday's collected edition of 1920.' Dale Kramer, Joseph Conrad Today

An Outcast of the Islands (1896), Conrad's second novel, returns to the Malay world of Almayer's Folly (1895). Focusing on the collapse of Western values and morals in a colonial setting, the novel daringly portrays the power of erotic attraction and exposes the venal ambitions behind small- and large-scale political intrigues. The introduction situates the novel in Conrad's career as a writer and traces its origins and reception. The essay on the text and the apparatus explain the history of the work's composition and publication, and detail the interventions of Conrad's compositors and editors. There are notes explaining literary and historical references, a glossary of nautical terms, illustrations including pictures of early drafts, and appendixes. This edition presents the novel and its preface in forms more authoritative than any so far printed, and restores a text that has circulated in defective forms since its original publication.

General editors' preface
Chronology
Abbreviations and note on editions
Introduction
An Outcast of the Islands
The texts: an essay
Apparatus
Textual notes
Appendices
Explanatory notes
Glossaries
Map.

Subject Areas: Colonialism & imperialism [HBTQ], Classic fiction [pre c 1945 FC], Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers [DSK], Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900 [DSBF]