I was reading Paul Theroux’s account of his travels in Africa and noted especially his many references to Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. If I remember correctly, he had read the novella over ten times before reaching Cape Town. Well, I know the feeling, and I would just love to discuss it with him one day.
When we decided to print and publish an illustrated letterpress limited edition of Heart of Darkness it was a decision from the heart. We unanimously loved and admired the work, considered it a masterpiece, and felt honored to undertake such a project. We realized it wouldn’t be easy, but we never thought it would be as time consuming and intense as it turned out to be. Reading Heart of Darkness is like being suspended in a literary time capsule, but a strangely relevant one. You are eased into the story, lured in if you will, until all hope is gone and you are captured, not just for the duration of the tale, but forever. It is all consuming, emotionally draining, rewarding in so many unforeseen ways, and certainly unforgettable. There are few such works that irresistibly lead from the final page back to the first, to begin the journey all over again.
And what a journey it was. We started our project by locating the many editions of the text in print, edited and annotated versions, some containing numerous analyses and commentary, all fascinatingly serious and academic, and all betraying a sense of immense importance. It was obvious that this book had left its mark in many divergent ways, and certainly was a subject of editorial opinion from all camps of literary criticism. Upon digesting these learned yet mind spinning critiques, we decided early on to forgo any introductory material, and to allow the text to stand on its own. The next decision was which edition of the text we would use.
Heart of Darkness was first published in 1899, in three parts in Blackwood’s Magazine under the title “The Heart of Darkness”. It was revised in 1902 for inclusion in the book Youth: A Narrative and Two Other Stories, and it is this version that formed the base for further reprints. In 1917 there were several reprints, and in 1921 Heinemann in London and Doubleday in the USA published collected works. Conrad, according to his literary executor, considered the 1921 edition his final text, and although many other editions are in print today, we decided to use the 1921 version in the Chester River Press edition. For printing purposes we needed to locate an electronic version of the text, and that was our first major roadblock. We had in our possession the published paper version of the 1921 edition, but the only electronic edition to be found was a much later version, necessitating one of two solutions: retyping the 1921 edition into electronic format, or editing the existing later electronic edition to conform to the 1921 Heinemann. We chose the latter, and the real fun began.
Jim Dissette, Bill Frank and I divided up the editing, and we soon realized that reading Conrad was a much more pleasurable experience than editing him. In fact, it was very difficult as the two versions were significantly different especially in British spelling versus American spelling, and in punctuation. It seems Conrad loved to use the long and medium ‘dash’, the so called ‘2-em and 3-em dashes’ and many of these had been replaced with commas or hyphens in the electronic version, or eliminated altogether. It wasn’t long before we concluded we needed the help of Kathleen Jones, who had worked with us on editing previous projects. So with Kathleen in charge, we set off on the editing voyage, and in the end it took eight solid readings of the text, line by line, dash by dash, week by week, to complete the task. Needless to say, we can quote Conrad at an impressive clip.
Earlier in this process we approached Marc Castelli with the idea of illustrating Heart of Darkness. Marc is a renowned maritime artist, and his line drawings graced our earlier publication of The Chesapeake Voyages of Capt. John Smith. We were a bit apprehensive about this, since Marc draws and paints his own superb maritime subjects, and this was not strictly a 'nautical' book. Then again, we knew that not many artists had the fortitude to attempt to illustrate Heart of Darkness, and we decided Marc would not be one to shy away from such a challenge. So we told him about our plans, and before we could ask the question he said “It’s my favorite book. I love Conrad, and I’d love to illustrate it!” We were off and running.
We all went through the text with an eye for selecting possible images for the drawings, and naturally came up with many more than could reasonably be included. The selection process started and Marc went to work on the striking images that now appear in the book. We decided on about forty drawings, including thirteen full page, five half page, and many smaller drawings and portraits and three drop-capital letters with background images to begin each section of the book. Marc contacted an expert on Belgian Congo River shipping to make certain he drew proper images of the type of steamboats in use on the Congo in the late 19th century. Before long we had an impressive group of line drawings as accurate and artistic as anyone could hope for.
The real ‘fun’ was just beginning. Jim Dissette designed the book, and each time we made changes in the text or drawings, the layout was affected. The text blocks constantly needed to be adjusted, the drawings had to be placed in the correct section of the text, and those ‘dashes’ were always popping up where they shouldn’t be. Jim designed a striking double title page, and he and Chad Pastotnik of Deep Wood Press designed a four panel center fold-out of drawings printed on intaglio debossed panels. Jim selected Dante and Castellar typefaces, and Hahnemuhle Biblio cotton rag paper.
With the editing and design work completed, we decided to publish two editions: one would be a deluxe version, in full Nigerian blue goatskin, in a clamshell case, with an additional suite of four of Marc Castelli's drawings suitable for framing; and a standard edition of ¼ goatskin and marbled paper in a slipcase. We would limit the deluxe version to 15 copies, and the standard to 135 copies. The printing commenced at Deep Wood Press, and the binding was done at Bessenberg Bindery. The first books were completed in November, 2008, one year from the publication of Chesapeake Voyages.
While it seems to retain a universal appeal, I think it accurate to say that Heart of Darkness holds a unique meaning to each reader. Unfettered by analysis or literary criticism, the reader makes that connection with a time period and attitude that, depending on your view, have as much relevance today as one hundred years ago. My reaction to this book was altered each time I read through it, mostly because I was intently searching the text for technical reasons, but also because my focus changed as I noticed certain phrases and observations that seemed to escape my scrutiny during a previous reading. This is not unusual with such books, but in this case I was overwhelmed by the story’s ability to capture my interest and hold my concentration with each reading. I couldn’t help admiring the structure of the book, Conrad’s use of narrator within narrator, and the risky use of double quotations, lengthy monologues, and the many images subject to interpretation. It all seems to blend, a perfect mixture, a successful experiment in literary technique and pure story telling.
Publishing this edition of Heart of Darkness was a signal experience for us all. The pleasure of producing a truly fine edition is delight enough, but the privilege of traveling so far and long with Conrad and his Marlow is its own reward. In a few days I plan to sit down, open this magnificent edition, and read the story again. Or perhaps for the first time.
