Last Essays is a volume of essays by Joseph Conrad

Joseph Conrad

Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...

, edited with an introduction by Richard Curle

Richard Curle

Richard Curle was an American author. His many books cover the subject of Joseph Conrad and his works.-Selected works:* Aspects of George Meredith * Joseph Conrad: A Study * Life is a Dream...

, and published posthumously in 1926 (London & Toronto: J. M. Dent

J. M. Dent

Joseph Malaby Dent was a British book publisher who produced the Everyman's Library series.Dent was born in Darlington in what is now the Britaania public house. After a short and unsuccessful stint as an apprentice printer he took up bookbinding...

 & Sons).

The volume includes nineteen shorter pieces, mainly written by Conrad for various newspapers and magazines after the publication of Notes on Life and Letters in 1921. Together with the 1978 volume The Congo Diary and Other Uncollected Pieces, edited by Zdzislaw Najder

Zdzislaw Najder

Zdzisław Najder is a Polish literary historian, critic and political activist. He is primarily known as a pre-eminent scholar on the work of author Joseph Conrad and for his positions as adviser to Lech Wałęsa and Jan Olszewski as well as for serving as chief of the Polish language section of...

, they contain all of Conrad's miscellaneous writing.

The essays in Last Essays are mainly about sea travel or literature. Apart from the first essay, "Geography and Some Explorers", they are not of any great consequence, but contain many passages of interest to the enthusiast. The volume also contains "Legends", the unfinished essay Conrad was working on when he died, and The Congo Diary, Conrad's first known writing, since often reprinted, and of great interest to the student of Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness

Heart of Darkness is a novella written by Joseph Conrad. Before its 1903 publication, it appeared as a three-part series in Blackwood's Magazine. It was classified by the Modern Library website editors as one of the "100 best novels" and part of the Western canon.The story centres on Charles...

.

List of contents

• Geography and Some Explorers
• The "Torrens": A Personal Tribute
• Christmas Day at Sea
• Ocean Travel
• Outside Literature
• Legends
• The Unlighted Coast
• The Dover Patrol
• Memorandum on the Scheme for Fitting-Out a Sailing Ship
• The Loss of the "Dalgonar"
• Travel
• Stephen Crane
  Stephen Crane
  Stephen Crane was an American novelist, short story writer, poet and journalist. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism...
  
  
• His War Book: A Preface to Stephen Crane
  Stephen Crane
  Stephen Crane was an American novelist, short story writer, poet and journalist. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism...
  
  's The Red Badge of Courage
  The Red Badge of Courage
  The Red Badge of Courage is a war novel by American author Stephen Crane . Taking place during the American Civil War, the story is about a young private of the Union Army, Henry Fleming, who flees from the field of battle. Overcome with shame, he longs for a wound—a "red badge of courage"—to...
  
  
• John Galsworthy
  John Galsworthy
  John Galsworthy OM was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include The Forsyte Saga and its sequels, A Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter...
  
  
• A Glance at Two Books (The Island Pharisees by John Galsworthy
  John Galsworthy
  John Galsworthy OM was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include The Forsyte Saga and its sequels, A Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter...
  
   and Green Mansions
  Green Mansions
  Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest is an exotic romance by William Henry Hudson about a traveller to the Guyana jungle of southeastern Venezuela and his encounter with a forest dwelling girl named Rima.-Plot summary:...
  
  by W. H. Hudson
• Preface to "The Shorter Tales of Joseph Conrad"
• Cookery: Preface to Jesse Conrad's A Handbook of Cookery for a Small House
• The Future of Constantinople
• The Congo Diary