The Composition and Publication History of Joseph Conrad's "A Set of Six"

Although the literary quality of the stories that make up A Set of Six (1908) does not equal that of Lord Jim (1900), Nostromo (1904), The Secret Agent (1907), Under Western Eyes (1911), Heart of Darkness (1899), or any of Joseph Conrad's other best works, nevertheless, many readers have underestimated the value of the collection, and these stories have generally attracted little notice in Conrad scholarship. Not only do they have merit in themselves, but they also provide much information about important themes running throughout Conrad's works, including his ideas concerning alter egos, anarchism, politics, and the incomprehensible nature of human existence. Furthermore, they exhibit some important narrative techniques found nowhere else in Conrad's fiction. Here, Peters examines composition and publication history of Conrad's A set of Six.