Nostromo
Price: $150.00
Hardcover. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1904. 1st Edition. Near Fine.
First American edition, first printing with "Eruope" on p. 201, line 21. Publisher's green cloth, front board and spine lettered in gilt, front board decorated in orange and black. Near fine, with mild toning to spine, light rubbing to spine ends and board corners, light thumbsoiling to endpapers, and mild offsetting to front free endpaper. Overall, a very pleasing and bright example. Originally published serially in T.P.'s Weekly from January to October 1904, Nostromo is a critique of Europe's industrial and imperialistic ventures in the South American countries told in three parts: "The Silver of the Mine," "The Isabels," and "The Lighthouse." Conrad set Nostromo in the fictitious country of Costaguana, his first use of an unfamiliar location as a novel's setting. Accordingly, Conrad deferred to close friend and fellow author Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham's intimate knowledge of South America, where he had spent much time as a rancher and cowboy, and relied on his first-hand stories as well as his published writings about the region. Notably, Graham's socialism, which was in stark contrast with Conrad's conservative views, influenced the tone of the novel. Nostromo ranks 47th on The Modern Library's list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Indeed, F. Scott Fitzgerald noted, "I'd rather have written Nostromo than any other novel." Item #JC106
