Written in 1899-1900, Lord Jim is one of the key works of literary Modernism. A novel of immense power, it has never been out of print, attracting readers for over a century and variously influencing the development of twentieth-century fiction. This page-by-page transcription of the surviving manuscript and fragmentary typescript offers a privileged glimpse into the writer’s workshop, allowing a reader to follow closely the evolution of character, narrative technique, and themes.
Accompanying the transcription of the novel (about half of which survives) are supplementary materials that contribute to the story of its history: a new transcription of “Tuan Jim” (the Ur-version of the opening chapters) and the draft version of Conrad’s 1917 “Author’s Note” to the novel. Lord Jim: A Transcription of the Manuscript makes available for the first time material housed in far-flung archives and encourages genetic approaches to a work acclaimed for its polished style, virtuoso effects, and narrative complexity.
A “must have” in the library of any scholar of late-Victorian and Modernist fiction, this volume will attract all readers with a serious interest in the art of fiction.