Joseph Conrad's autobiographical piece A Personal Record, sometimes known as a "fragment of the biography," was released in 1912. Additionally, it has been printed under the heading A Personal Record: Some Recollections and Some Recollections. Although notoriously untrustworthy and rambling in style, it is the main source of information regarding the author's life in the modern era. It talks of his childhood in Russian Poland, sailing in Marseille, the influence of his uncle Tadeusz Bobrowski, and the making of Almayer's Folly. In addition to being a moody work of art, it offers a glimpse of how Conrad wanted to be perceived by his British audience. The "Familiar Preface," which Conrad penned for it, has the frequently quoted words: "Those who read me know my opinion that the universe, the temporal world, relies on a few very simple notions; they are so simple that they must be as old as the hills. It is largely founded on the concept of fidelity, among other things." For the Doubleday collected edition of his works (released in 1920), Conrad included a new "Author's Note" to "A Personal Record" in which he detailed his friendship with the British colonial administrator and author Hugh Clifford.
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist, considered as one of the prominent novelists to write in the English language. He was born on 3 December 1857. Though he did not speak English fluently until his twenties, he came to be considered a master prose stylist who guide a non-English sensibility into English literature. He was assigned British nationality in 1886 but always regarded himself a Pole. He enrolled the French Merchant Marine and began to work on British ships, learning English from his shipmates. He was made a master mariner and worked more than sixteen years before an event motivated him to try his hand at writing. He wrote stories and novels, many with a nautical setting, that represents trials of the human spirit in the middle of an unexpressive, transparent universe. During his lifetime Conrad was praised for the assets of his prose and his offerings of dangerous life at sea and in foreign places. His works include the novels Almayer's Folly (1895), Lord Jim (1900), Nostromo (1904), and The Secret Agent (1907) and the short story 'Heart of Darkness ' (1902). He died in August 1924.
