An edition of The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (1907)

The Secret Agent

Authoritative Text, Contexts, Criticism

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  • 3.4 (13 ratings) ·
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Last edited by MARC Bot
October 3, 2024 | History
An edition of The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (1907)

The Secret Agent

Authoritative Text, Contexts, Criticism

First edition
  • 3.4 (13 ratings) ·
  • 196 Want to read
  • 17 Currently reading
  • 18 Have read

This Norton Critical Edition includes:

  • The first English book edition of the novel (1907), accompanied by explanatory footnotes.
  • Four illustrations.
  • Contemporary sources that informed Conrad’s writing of the novel, including newspaper accounts of the “Greenwich Bomb Outrage,” articles from the anarchist press, earlier fictional treatments of the Martial Bourdin case (the inspiration for
    Adolph Verloc), and important texts related to anarchism and fin-de-siècle culture.
  • Seven wide-ranging critical essays by Ian Watt, Terry Eagleton, Martin Ray, Hugh Epstein, Gail Fincham, Peter Lancelot Mallios, and Michael Newton.
  • A Chronology and a Selected Bibliography.

(Source: W. W. Norton & Company)

Publish Date
Language
English
Pages
386

Buy this book

Previews available in: English Spanish

Edition Availability
Cover of: The Secret Agent
The Secret Agent: Authoritative Text, Contexts, Criticism
2016, W. W. Norton & Company
Paperback in English - First edition
Cover of: The secret agent
The secret agent
2014, WF Howes Ltd, W F Howes Ltd
in English
Cover of: Secret Agent
Secret Agent
2012, Penguin Books, Limited
in English
Cover of: The secret agent
The secret agent
2008, Wilder Publications
in English
Cover of: The Secret Agent
The Secret Agent: Centennial Editon (Signet Classics)
April 3, 2007, Signet Classics
Paperback in English
Cover of: El agente secreto/The Secret Agent
El agente secreto/The Secret Agent
June 30, 2005, Ediciones Catedra S.A.
Paperback in Spanish - 3 edition
Cover of: The secret agent
The secret agent
2003, Giunti
in English
Cover of: The secret agent
The secret agent: a simple tale
1997, Dent, Orion Publishing Group, Limited
in English
Cover of: The secret agent
The secret agent: a simple tale
1985, Penguin Books, Viking Penguin
in English
Cover of: SECRET AGENT, THE
SECRET AGENT, THE
December 1, 1983, Bantam Classics, Bantam Books
Mass Market Paperback in English

Add another edition?

Book Details


Table of Contents

Preface
Page vii
The Text of The Secret Agent
Page 1
Backgrounds and Contexts
Page 201
Joseph Conrad • The Informer (1908)
Page 203
Contemporary Reviews of The Secret Agent (1907)
Page 223
Anonymous • Mr. Conrad’s Tale of Anarchists
Page 223
Anonymous • From The Scotsman
Page 224
[Edward Verrall Lucas] • From The Times Literary Supplement
Page 225
Anonymous • From The Athenæum
Page 226
[Edward Garnett] • The Novel of the Week
Page 227
Anonymous • From The New-York Tribune
Page 230
Anonymous • A Grossly Material Tale by a Master Writer
Page 231
Anonymous • Not a Detective Story
Page 232
Contemporary Sources and Debates
Page 233
Joseph Conrad • Author’s Note to The Secret Agent (1920)
Page 233
Pall Mall Gazette • Anarchism at Home and Abroad (1894)
Page 238
David Nicoll • From The Greenwich Mystery (1897)
Page 243
Isabel Meredith • From A Girl among the Anarchists (1903)
Page 250
Robert Anderson • From Sidelights on the Home Rule Movement (1906)
Page 257
Peter Kropotkin • From Anarchism (1910)
Page 260
Max Nordau • From Degeneration (1895)
Page 263
Criticism
Page 269
Ian Watt • The Political and Social Background of The Secret Agent
Page 271
Terry Eagleton • Form, Ideology and The Secret Agent
Page 286
Martin Ray • Conrad, Nordau, and Other Degenerates: The Psychology of The Secret Agent
Page 294
Hugh Epstein • A Pier-Glass in the Cavern: The Construction of London in The Secret Agent
Page 310
Gail Fincham • Empire, Patriarchy and The Secret Agent
Page 330
Peter Lancelot Mallios • Reading The Secret Agent Now: The Press, the Police, and the Premonition of Simulation
Page 347
Michael Newton • Four Notes on The Secret Agent: Sir William Harcourt, Ford and Helen Rossetti, Bourdin’s Relations, and a Warning against Δ
Page 363
Joseph Conrad: A Chronology
Page 381
Selected Bibliography
Page 383

Edition Notes

This Norton Critical Edition includes:

  • The first English book edition of the novel (1907), accompanied by explanatory footnotes.
  • Four illustrations.
  • Contemporary sources that informed Conrad’s writing of the novel, including newspaper accounts of the “Greenwich Bomb Outrage,” articles from the anarchist press, earlier fictional treatments of the Martial Bourdin case (the inspiration for Adolph Verloc), and important texts related to anarchism and fin-de-siècle culture.
  • Seven wide-ranging critical essays by Ian Watt, Terry Eagleton, Martin Ray, Hugh Epstein, Gail Fincham, Peter Lancelot Mallios, and Michael Newton.
  • A Chronology and a Selected Bibliography.

(Source: W. W. Norton & Company)

Published in
New York, USA
Series
Norton Critical Editions
Other Titles
El agente secreto

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
823/.912
Library of Congress
PR6005.O4 S4 2016, PR6005.O4S4 2016
lccn_permalink
https://lccn.loc.gov/2016018373

Contributors

Editor
Richard Niland

The Physical Object

Format
Paperback
Pagination
viii, 386p.
Number of pages
386
Dimensions
22 x x centimeters

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL26370665M
Internet Archive
secretagentautho0000conr
ISBN 10
0393937445
ISBN 13
9780393522143, 9780393937442
LCCN
2016018373
OCLC/WorldCat
987000790
Google
H8V-DQAAQBAJ, PNQfDQEACAAJ
Library Thing
7220
Wikidata
Q1247666
Freebase
m/03fxpf
Storygraph
43b7746e-1922-4bde-b5aa-694b9e622895
Goodreads
52822578

Work Description

The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale is a novel by Joseph Conrad, first published in 1907. The story is set in London in 1886 and deals with Mr. Adolf Verloc and his work as a spy for an unnamed country (presumably Russia). The Secret Agent is one of Conrad's later political novels in which he moved away from his former tales of seafaring. The novel is dedicated to H. G. Wells and deals broadly with anarchism, espionage, and terrorism. It also deals with exploitation of the vulnerable in Verloc's relationship with his brother-in-law Stevie, who has an intellectual disability. Conrad’s gloomy portrait of London depicted in the novel was influenced by Charles Dickens’ Bleak House.

(Source: Wikipedia)

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History

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October 3, 2024 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
September 23, 2024 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
September 14, 2024 Edited by Wimsey1916 Edited without comment.
April 6, 2024 Edited by Wimsey1916 Fixed a few subjects
October 15, 2009 Created by WorkBot add works page