The Approach to His Writings: Twenty Famous Critics Tell Readers of The Book Dial How to Start Reading Joseph Conrad

This is a promotional article (1925) included in The Book Dial , a promotional journal published for the Doubleday & Page Book Shop. The journal was meant primarily as an advertisement for Doubleday, Page’s titles. As the title suggests, it is meant as an aid to those coming to Conrad’s works for the first time and includes a handful of comments by prominent critics of the day, along with brief overviews of the critics’ most commonly recommended Conrad titles. It also includes illustrations by Edward A. Wilson, which had been included in Doubleday’s promotional pamphlet Joseph Conrad: A Sketch (1924; see Peters 216–44 for a reprint of this pamphlet). This article was later reprinted as part of yet another Doubleday promotional pamphlet, titled Joseph Conrad (1926). The pamphlets and the B ook Dial article were produced as promotions for the Doubleday, Page uniform edition of Conrad’s works. Prefacing this article is the “Introduction” that appeared in the 1926 promotional pamphlet. Note: article is edited by this journal’s general editor.