Last Essays is a volume of essays by Joseph Conrad, edited with an introduction by Richard Curle, and published posthumously in 1926 (London & Toronto: J. M. Dent & Sons).
The essays in Last Essays are mainly about sea travel or literature. They contain many passages of interest to the enthusiast. The volume contains "Legends," the unfinished essay Conrad was working on when he died, and "The Congo Diary", Conrad's first known writing, since often reprinted, and of great interest to the student of Heart of Darkness. It also contains Conrad's preface to Curle's Into the East (1921), in which Conrad laments the passing of an earlier form of travel and its replacement by tourism.[1]
"The Dover Patrol" was commissioned by Lord Northcliffe in 1921 for the unveiling of a monument commemorating the British naval efforts in protecting the English Channel during World War I.[2]
List of contents
Geography and Some Explorers
The "Torrens": A Personal Tribute
Christmas Day at Sea
Ocean Travel
Outside Literature
Legends
The Unlighted Coast
The Dover Patrol
Memorandum on the Scheme for Fitting-Out a Sailing Ship