Born not far from Kiev in 1857, Joseph Conrad spoke Russian in his earliest years, but from the age of five could read Polish, and soon learned French and spoke it perfectly. By 1878, he had set foot in England as a seaman, and by 1880 was able to pass the able seaman's examination in English.  By the age of 30 he had risen to captain. He began writing while sailing on ships, and serving on two steamships. Heart of Darkness resulted from a trip to a Congo port as captain of a river steamer scheduled to transport an exploring group inland, and is Conrad's reaction to the bitter six months he spent in the Congo, and to a story he heard about the murder of an English major. A tropical disease that Conrad contracted in Africa seriously undermined his health and partly crippled him for the rest of his life. By 1894, his career as a seaman was over, and his writing career began in earnest. Conrad spent the latter half of his life in the tranquillity of the Kent countryside. From there he published 27 volumes of brilliant prose. Like in many of Conrad's novels, Heart of Darkness is narrated through the viewpoint  of Marlow, a fictitious sea captain. In it Marlow leaves on a ship commissioned in Brussels to sail up the Congo on a dangerous mission to visit and report on Mr. Kurtz, who has been collecting ivory for a Belgian trading company. Only the names were changed. Originally, Kurtz had come to Africa to civilize the natives. Instead, the natives had both deified Kurtz and debased him into an atavistic savage....The etchings created for our volume by Sean Scully plumb the very heart of darkness. A renegade artist, Scully summed up his art, saying, "I don't get nervous about whether or not someone's going to like me....Nobody asked me to be an artist!" Scully came of age during the heydey of "stripe painting." Behind his forced irregularities, Scully desires to startle viewers out of complacency and engage them emotionally. For our edition, Mohammed O. Khalil at his Brooklyn, New York studio, has pulled four full-page etchings and four half-page etchings. The paper he used for the etchings is an all cotton stock specially made in Pescia, Italy at Cartiere Enrico Magnini. The typographic designer was Dan Carr, and the text has been set by Julia Ferrari and Dan Carr at Golgonooza Letter Foundry in Ashuelot, New Hampshire. The type was made into pages by Art Larson at Horton Tank Graphics and printed by Daniel Keleher at Wild Carrot Letterpress in Hadley, Massachusetts. The paper for the text has been printed on Lana Royale stock, made in France in an off-white tint. The binding for Heart of Darkness has been executed by hand in full-bound style by Kim O'Donnell at Garthegaat Bindery in Easthampton, Massachusetts and Carol Joyce at Academy Books and bindery in Stockton, New Jersey. The boards are covered with black Nigerian oasis goatskin and black canapetta linen covers. The box was produced by John von Isakovics at his Jovonis bindery in West Springfield, Massachusetts. This is an awesome book in a very limited press run. It is number 278 of 300, and is signed by Sean Scully. The essential four page Limited Editions Club Monthly Letter is included. While anyone would drool over the opportunity to possess a book like this, it is more likely of interest to discriminating collectors of the finest LEC productions and to serious enthusiasts of the best Joseph Conrad novels money can buy. For those with the means, it would be an awesome gift to a special friend, colleague or loved one....Thank you for reading this presentation, and good luck in your searches. Feel free to contact me with any questions.