Ashley MS 4787

'The Rescuer': the first form of the novel 'The Rescue' by Joseph Conrad; 1896-1898. Autograph fair copy, with many revisions, deletions and additions, written on one side only of five hundred and ninety-six folio leaves of ruled cream wove paper, and on both sides of a further two (ff. 25, 91). Watermark 'Adambury / Extra Strong / Bank'. F. 82 is a scrap of unruled cream wove paper, f. 217 is a half leaf, ff. 235 and 236 are part leaves, and f. 237 is a three quarter leaf. Ashley Library Catalogue, i, pp. 253-254. There are notes by Conrad as follows:

1. 'This MS dating from years 1896 to 1898 is absolutely the first state of the text of the Novel The Rescue (finished on May 25 - 1919) as to two thirds. By successive eliminations and corrections these two thirds have been reduced to a very little more than one half of the text as printed in the first edition. The second half of the text (as printed) is contained in the First Draft Typescript scored, corrected and interlined in pen and ink by my own hand'. f. ii.

2. Note signed by Conrad 'Here the MS text (in my own hand) of the novel The Rescue ends the rest having been dictated and corrected by me 20 years afterwards'. f. iv (following f. 598).

Folio; ff. iv+598.

Joseph Conrad, alias Teodor Jósef Konrad Korzeniowski, novelist: Fiction: Novel, 'The Rescue', here entitled 'The Rescuer', by Joseph Conrad: 1896-1898: Autogr. fair copy with copious revisions.