1857
3 Dec., Jozef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski born of Polish aristocratic parents
in the Russian occupied Ukraine 1861Conrad's
father, poet and translator Count Apollo Korzeniowski, arrested for patriotic
conspiracy 1862
Conrad's parents exiled by Russian authorities to Vologda, Siberia 1865
Conrad's mother dies in bleak climate. 1869
Upon the death of Count Apollo Korzeniowski in Krakow, Poland, Conrad is
taken under the protection his maternal uncle, the indulgent Tadeusz
Bobrowski. 1874
Conrad leaves his native Poland to avoid Russian conscription; in Marseilles
he becomes a trainee seaman with the French Merchant Marine. 1876
As a steward on the Sainte-Antoine , Conrad meets Dominic Cervoni,
upon whom he based the protagonist of Nostromo. 1877
Conrad involved in Carlist plot, smuggling arms to the Spanish rebels from
Marseilles 1878
March: Conrad attempts suicide, shooting himself in the chest, but recovers.
As a result, his uncle clears Conrad's gambling debts. April: Conrad, having
lost his French mariner's ticket, joins his first British-registered ship,
the ‘ Mavis', and transfers afterwards to ‘The Skimmer of the Sea'. He would
have become liable for Russian military service had he remained in the French
merchant service. 1886
Conrad becomes a naturalized British subject and passes his exam for a
British merchant navy Master's certificate, but commands are in short supply.
1887
Conrad involved in accident on ‘The Highland Forest' and is hospitalized in
Singapore 1887-8
As the first officer on ‘The Vidar' Conrad visits numerous ports in the Malay
archipelago. 1888
Conrad has his only command as master of the ‘Otago'. 1889
Conrad resigns from post on the ‘Otago' to return to London, where he begins
writing Almayer's Folly . 1890
Conrad, desperate for command, takes a mate's position on a river steamer for
the Societe Anonyme pour le Commerce du Haut-Congo , the experience so
vividly reflected in Conrad's Congo Journal and eventually in Heart
of Darkness . 1891-3
While officer of the clipper ‘Torrens' Conrad meets John Galsworthy. In
England, Conrad meets Jessie George. 1894
Feb.: death of Tadeusz Bobrowski. Oct.: Unwin agrees to publish Almayer's
Folly ; in consequence, Conrad meets Unwin's reader, Edward Garnett 1895
Almayer's Folly published by Unwin & Co., London 1896
Outcast of the Islands published. Conrad meets H. G. Wells. 24 March:
Conrad marries Jessie George, and begins writing The Rescue . 1897
Conrad publishes The Nigger of the ‘Narcissus'. He becomes acquainted
with American novelist Henry James and R. B. Cunninghame Graham, upon whom
Conrad will base the character of Gould in Nostromo . 1898
Volume of short stories Tales of Unrest , collection of previously
published short stories. Conrad collaborates with Ford Madox Ford (Hueffer)
and meets American journalist Stephen Crane. Conrad leases a Kentish
farmhouse; his son Borys Conrad is born. 1898-9
Heart of Darkness runs serially in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine,
which Conrad calls simply “ Maga .” 1899
J. B. Pinker becomes Conrad's literary agent. 1899-1900
Lord Jim runs serially in Maga . 1900
Stephen Crane, a Conrad intimate, dies; Lord Jim appears in volume
form. 1901
Conrad collaborates with Ford to publish The Inheritors. 1902
‘Youth' and Other Stories 1903
‘Typhoon' and Other Stories and, in collaboration with Ford, Romance
published 1904
Jessie Conrad, injuring her knees, is disabled for life. Nostromo published
1906
Conrad meets Arthur Marwood. Second son, John, is born. Conrad publishes
biography Mirror of the Sea. 1907
The Conrads move to The Someries, Luton Hoo. Conrad publishes The Secret
Agent. 1908
The short story collection A Set of Six published 1909
Ford and Conrad argue over C's contributions to The English Review.
The Conrads move to a cottage at Aldington. 1910
Conrad completes Under Western Eyes, but suffers a nervous breakdown,
lying in bed talking to the characters in the novel. Once recovered, he and
Jessie move to Capel House, Orlestone. 1911
Under Western Eyes published 1912
The biographical A Personal Record and short story collection ‘Twixt
Land and Sea published. 1913
Conrad's first great critical and popular success, Chance, published 1914
Conrad's Chance leads to recognition for his other work and has
excellent sales in America. Visiting Poland, the Conrads are nearly trapped
there when World War One breaks out in August. 1915
Conrad publishes short story collection Within the Tides , containing
the potboiler “The Inn of the Two Witches,” published; Victory published
1917
The Shadow Line published. Conrad begins writing notes for a collected
edition of his works. 1919
The Arrow of Gold published. The Conrads move to Oswalds, near
Canterbury. 1920
The Rescue is completed and published 24 years after Conrad started
it. 1921
Conrad visits Corsica to research Suspense . His Notes on Life and
Letters published 1923
Visiting America, Conrad is lionized. The Rover is published. 1924
In May, Conrad declines an offered knighthood. On the 3rd of August, Conrad
dies of a heart attack. Posthumously, his collaboration with Ford, The
Nature of Crime, is published. |