'Heart of Darkness' by Joseph Conrad (Folio Society, 2014) book review

Heart of Darkness is a novella by Polish-English author Joseph Conrad, first published in serial form in 1899. It’s the classic tale of Charles Marlow’s descent into both proverbial and literal darkness as he steams up the Congo River in search of an enigmatic ivory dealer named Kurtz. Like many of the great classics, it has become deeply embedded in our culture and, among its other influences, was the inspiration behind the movie Apocalypse Now.
Folio published an edition of the novella in 1997 as part of a series of Conrad’s work. This is the later stand-alone Folio Society edition of 2014, reprinted in 2018. This edition is introduced by Sebastian Barry, who has an obvious passion for Conrad’s work, and is illustrated by Sean McSorley.
The volume is presented in a black slipcase embellished with a silver foil design by the artist depicting a rainforest scene. The book is three-quarter bound in buckram with a paper front board. The cover, again, bears a design of the artist’s that creatively incorporates a skull motif into a vignette of a steamboat making its way up the Congo River.

The binding is Smyth-sewn with matching head and tail bands. The endpapers are printed with stylised designs that incorporate themes from the book: ivory, slavery, and steamboats among them.

The book is printed on Folio’s standard, but delightful, Abbey Wove paper. The text is set in Miller, although each of the three chapters is headed in a different face.

Inside the book, there are seven full-page colour illustrations including the frontispiece. These appear to be a combination of linework, wash, and digital collage. They do a good job of capturing the spirit of the novella. Whether deliberate or not, many of the illustrations place the subjects below eye level, giving the impression of being an observer on high looking over the scene.

Recorded on a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4k with Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm f/2.8 and 25mm f/1.7 lenses.

[EdwardG]

A beautifully filmed and edited video - it could easily pass for a promotional video by The Folio Society. Thanks for the close up of the book and the easy to listen to commentary.

[jcucc]

Great video! Just getting into folio books so I love seeing the cool ones that’ve gone out of print, since they refuse to display them on their website. Definitely gonna try to find a used copy of this!

[bookishpothos]

Great camerawork and commentary on the art.
Heart of Darkness also features in a third Folio edition "Two Tales of the Congo" published in 1952, the second tale being "An Outpost of Progress", a lesser known work that also came out from his experience in Africa and which he thought was his best tale.

[elliotwalton]

Thank you! I was only recently pulled into the Folio editions by "Planet of the Apes" and the global lockdown. I've purchased around 10 editions to pass the hours and they are all of superb craftsmanship. There is great joy reading a folio edition because of the ease of the eye on the non-reflective Abby Wove paper and the luxurious feel of the book in your hands. A true pleasure.

[BookCravings]

I recently read it... not sure I enjoyed it. But the FS edition is gorgeous!
Btw, your videos are beautiful... Looking forward to seeing more!

[sorucha]

Missed my chance to buy it in the new year sale for 8£ 😭