 First edition cover | |
| Author | Joseph Conrad |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Short Stories |
| Publisher | Methuen and Company |
Publication date | 1908 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 310 |
| OCLC | 557218 |
A Set of Six is a collection of six works of short fiction by Joseph Conrad, each appearing in literary journals between 1906 and 1908. The works were collected in A Set of Six, published in 1908 by Methuen and Company . [1]
The works in the collection first appeared in literary journals: [2]
“Gaspar Ruiz” ( Pall Mall Magazine , July–October 1906)
“The Brute” ( Daily Chronicle , December 5, 1906)
“An Anarchist” ( Harper’s Magazine , August 1906)
“The Informer” ( Harper’s Magazine , December 1906)
“Il Conde” ( Cassell's Magazine , August 1908)
“The Duel” ( The Pall Mall Magazine , January–May 1908)
Conrad, at the age of 44, embarked on his first major literary project, Nostromo, completed and published in 1904. In composing Nostromo, Conrad sought to present a broader social landscape in his work. The subject of his early writing, involving “moral dramas tested by the unfamiliar menace of a primitive world” were in abeyance during this period. Between October 1902 and November 1905, Conrad wrote no short fiction. [3] [4]
When he returned to writing short stories, Conrad regarded these as “instruments for raising money quickly” rather than serious literary endeavors. [5] In a letter to Sir Algernon Methuen in January 1908, Conrad explained his approach to writing the material in A Set of Six:
All the stories are stories of incident – action – not of analysis. All are dramatic in a measure but by no means of a gloomy sort… they are not studies – they touch no problem. They are just stories in which I’ve tried my best to be simply entertaining. [6] [7]
The stories in A Set of Six contrast with his earlier short fiction in that they are neither autobiographical or based on first-hand experience. Literary critic Laurence Graver notes that a central theme in his earliest stories, namely, the conflict between “egoism and altruism” is largely absent in this collection: “a new emphasis is placed on love and humor, two elements Conrad seemed to think were indispensable in popular fiction.” [8]
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-British novelist and story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language; though he did not speak English fluently until his twenties, he came to be regarded a master prose stylist who brought a non-English sensibility into English literature. He wrote novels and stories, many in nautical settings, that depict crises of human individuality in the midst of what he saw as an indifferent, inscrutable and amoral world.
Henry Christopher Bailey was an English author of detective fiction.
"The Secret Sharer" is a short story by Polish-British author Joseph Conrad, originally written in 1909 and first published in two parts in the August and September 1910 editions of Harper's Magazine. It was later included in the short story collection Twixt Land and Sea (1912).
"The Lagoon" is a short story by Joseph Conrad composed in 1896 and first published in The Cornhill Magazine in January 1897. The work was collected in Conrad’s first volume of short stories Tales of Unrest (1898).
“Youth” is an autobiographical work of short fiction by Joseph Conrad first published in Blackwood’s Magazine in 1898, and collected in the eponymous collection Youth, A Narrative; and Two Other Stories in 1902.
The Country of the Blind and Other Stories is a collection of thirty-three fantasy and science fiction short stories written by the English author H. G. Wells between 1894 and 1909. It was first published by Thomas Nelson and Sons in 1911. All the stories had first been published in various weekly and monthly periodicals. Twenty-seven of the stories had also been previously published in five earlier story collections by Wells.
"An Outpost of Progress" is a short story written in July 1896 by Joseph Conrad, drawing on his own experience in Belgian Congo. It was published in the magazine Cosmopolis in 1897 and was later collected in Tales of Unrest in 1898.
Henry Brereton Marriott Watson, known by his pen name H. B. Marriott Watson, was an Australian-born British novelist, journalist, playwright, and short-story writer. He worked for the St. James Gazette, was assistant editor of the Black and White and Pall Mall Gazette, and staff member on W. E. Henley's National Observer.
Tales of Unrest is a collection of five works of short fiction by Polish-British author Joseph Conrad. Four of the five works were previously published as serials in literary journals before appearing in the volume, published in 1898 by T. Fisher Unwin.
"The Idiots" is a short story by Joseph Conrad, his first to be published. It first appeared in The Savoy in 1896. The story was included in the Conrad collection Tales of Unrest, published in 1898.
"The Return" is a work of short fiction by Joseph Conrad, first published in 1898 in the collection Tales of Unrest by T. Fisher Unwin.
Youth, a Narrative; and Two Other Stories is a collection of three works of short fiction by Joseph Conrad, originally serialized in Blackwood’s Magazine. The volume was published in 1902 by William Blackwood and Sons.
“The Black Mate” is a work of short fiction by Joseph Conrad which first appeared in London Magazine in 1908, and was collected in Tales of Hearsay, published by T. Fisher Unwin in 1925.
‘Twixt Land and Sea is a collection of three works of short fiction by Joseph Conrad published in 1912 by J. M. Dent publishers.
"Falk: A Reminiscence" is a work of short fiction by Joseph Conrad. The story was completed in May 1901 and was collected in Typhoon and Other Stories in 1903, published by William Heinemann and Company.
“The Tale” is a work of short fiction by Joseph Conrad, first published in the Strand Magazine in October 1917. The story was collected in Tales of Hearsay in 1925 by T. Fisher Unwin.
"The Duel" is a work of short fiction by Joseph Conrad, first published in The Pall Mall Magazine in January–May, 1908. The story was collected in A Set of Six (1908) released by Methuen Publishing. It was adapted as the 1977 film The Duellists, directed by Ridley Scott.
Typhoon and Other Stories is a collection of short fiction by Joseph Conrad published in 1903 by William Heinemann and Company.
"The Inn of the Two Witches" is a work of short fiction by Joseph Conrad, first published in The Pall Mall Magazine in March 1913. The story was collected in Within the Tides (1915) published by J. M. Dent and Sons.
“Because of the Dollars” is a work of short fiction by Joseph Conrad, first published in The Metropolitan Magazine in September 1914. The story was collected in Within the Tides (1915) published by J. M. Dent and Sons.