AT THE DOOR OF DARKNESS: Joseph Conrad Withnail Books Chapbook

AT THE DOOR OF DARKNESS 
 
Joseph Conrad 
 
Withnail Books Chapbook 
 
A forgotten episode from Heart of Darkness, cut from the published version, now reconstructed from the original manuscript. 
 
A strictly limited, never-to-be-reprinted edition of 100 hand-numbered copies for sale. With an original, individually hand-printed linocut frontispiece tipped in to each copy. 
 
Heart of Darkness is Joseph Conrad's most celebrated story, both as a work of literature, and as the inspiration for Francis Ford Coppola's classic film Apocalypse Now. Originally published in 1899, the novella's dark tale of madness in the jungle was based on the author's own experience of travelling up the Congo river a decade before. Conrad’s journey began when he came ashore on 12 June 1890 at Boma, the seat of government of what was then the Congo Free State. He drew on his experiences in Boma to write an extended passage in Heart of Darkness, detailing the true beginning of Marlow's river voyage — but this episode, full of fascinating detail, was deleted from the printed version of the story, and has now become quite literally a footnote, mentioned in a few academic editions, but otherwise forgotten. 
 
This limited edition finally brings the full text of this 'deleted scene' into print, reconstructed from the original manuscript. 
 
Each copy of the edition features an original, individually hand-printed tipped-in linocut frontispiece by Sharon Newell, inspired by the baobab tree at Boma, as described by Conrad in the text deleted from the published version of Heart of Darkness. 
 
A5 format, printed on uncoated 160gsm paper, 20pp plus a cover printed on heavy Rives Shetland paper. 
 
Includes both a transcription of the deleted text from the manuscript, and the heavily edited passage as eventually published in the printed version. 
 
A detailed Introduction by Adam Newell gives the background to the text, and reveals an intriguing connection between this lost episode and Apocalypse Now... 
 
Features photos of the five relevant pages of Conrad's original manuscript, and rare historical images of Boma, identifying the locations described by Conrad.