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First American Edition, second impression, in the "Deluxe" binding. Hard cover, 12mo, in three quarter red roan, (rebacked,) over marbled paper-covered boards gilt. Top edge is gilt. Decoration and titles are blocked in gilt to the spine. COLLATION: [2][4]1-335,[4] pp. CONDITION: Very Good Plus. Many copies seen of this edition have much deterioration of the spine leather, so the re-backing preservation done here to retain as much as possible of the original is a boon; there is about an inch of loss to the original at head of spine and a quarter inch along the foot. Spine titles are somewhat faded, but legible. Shows some rubbing and one unobtrusive gouge (front) to marbled paper on the boards, shelf wear (mostly bottom edge) and rubbed tips. Inside, hinges are in order. Some penciled notations to ffep. as to edition. Mild age toning to the text, and moderate along the fore and bottom edges of the text block. Overall, the book remains clean, square and firm.** "An Outcast of the Islands" is the second novel written by Conrad, and forms a prequel to the story begun in 1895's "Almayer's Folly." The briefly noted "Almayer" character Peter Willems is here revisited by Conrad as a younger man. An over-confident cheat, gun-runner and general cad, Willems has a comeuppance after being caught embezzling funds from his Dutch employer, Hudig & Company, in Macassar, Malaysia. He presumes he will one day be made partner in the firm, when in fact he ends up being run out of town, loses all his friends and the goodwill of his ill-treated Malay-Portuguese wife and family. His youthful mentor Capt. Tom Lingard rescues him and relocates Willems to the remote trading outpost at Sambir, Borneo where he does not get along with the previous headman, Almayer. A new romantic obsession brings Willems into more strife, the trading post is attacked by an Arab rival and the story goes on from there.** Joseph Conrad's real life experiences as a mate onboard the tramp steamer Vidar on the Java Sea have been identified by scholars as the fictional basis for many of the characters and depictions of Malay life and culture in these novels. [Note: Another edition of this book with an identical title page was produced the same year in green cloth, and marketed as part of the Appleton's "Town & Country Library (No. 198)"--for this, see our listing 9186.] Cagle A2.B(3). Supino A2.12.0. , which was not issued with publisher's adverts.
Ref: CONRD 9185
$380.00