Record Number: 24870

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'I am keeping the "Jeanne d'Arc" until you return to town, unless you want me to send it out west to you. Upon the whole I think it is disappointing. One asks oneself why on earth A[natole]F[rance] wanted to touch that subject at all, and if he had to touch why in that way precisely.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1908 and 18 Aug 1908

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

city: Luton Hoo Estate
county: Bedfordshire
specific address: Someries

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Joseph Conrad

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

3 Dec 1857

Socio-Economic Group:

Gentry
'Szlachta', or Polish landed gentry/nobility

Occupation:

Master mariner and author

Religion:

Roman Catholic

Country of Origin:

Poland

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Anatole France

Title:

Vie de Jeanne d'Arc

Genre:

History, Biography

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

Paris: Calmann-Lévy, 1908. See also additional comments

Provenance

borrowed (other)
Internal evidence indicates book lent by John or Ada Galsworthy

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Source Information:

Record ID:

24870

Source:

Print

Author:

Joseph Conrad

Editor:

Karl Frederick R. and Laurence Davies

Title:

The Collected Letters of Joseph Conrad Volume 4 1908-1911

Place of Publication:

Cambridge

Date of Publication:

1990

Vol:

4

Page:

104

Additional Comments:

Letter from Joseph Conrad to Ada Galsworthy dated 18 August 1908, Someries.

Citation:

Joseph Conrad, Karl Frederick R. and Laurence Davies (ed.), The Collected Letters of Joseph Conrad Volume 4 1908-1911, (Cambridge, 1990), 4, p. 104, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=24870, accessed: 09 May 2025

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Additional Comments:

See also letter to John Galsworthy 30 November 1908, pp.151-152 of source text, indicating the eventual return of the book and again, Conrad's disappointment. Conrad would of course be referring to the original French edition, as the English edition translated by Winifred Stephens did not appear until 1909.