Chester River Press ~ Maryland

Heart of Darkness
By Joseph Conrad
with drawings by Marc Castelli
Chestertown, Maryland: Chester River Press, 2009. Edition of 135.

9 x 12 x 1.5"; 112 pages with a four-panel center-fold. 36 line drawings by Marc Castelli. Printed letterpress at Deepwood Press by Chad Pastotnik and James Dissette on Hahnemühle Biblio papers. Handcolored drop caps. Quarter-bound in Blue Nigerian goatskin and Cockerell marbled papers. Title stamped on spine. Slipcased with inset paper title. Signed by the artist.

Chester River Press: " A spontaneous consensus between three people is a rare occasion especially when it comes to three partners in publishing deciding on the 'next' publication. Marc Castelli, a prolific maritime artist on the Eastern Shore of Maryland also held the Heart of Darkness in high esteem. His passion for the Conrad text resulted in 36 line drawings powerfully reflecting the narrative's hallucinatory descent into a hell of human oppression, insanity, and ethical conundrum. Conrad's masterpiece showed to the world the devolution of values when one nation runs amuck over another - in this case the Belgian Congo - in the name of colonial progress. The currency of Heart of Darkness spurred us on.

"Logistically, the creation of the book took on a life of its own. Conceived in Maryland, printed on two presses in Michigan, shortages of Hahnemühle Biblio paper, long waits for the Cockerell paper we needed to compliment the goatskin, crazy days on the Deepwood Press vacuuming cotton fibers every 100 passes or so all made for a journey of its own. Even the despairing Mr. Kurtz would have applauded our trek."

Colophon: "The text of Heart of Darkness has been edited to conform to the 1921 Heinemann edition."

Parenthesis 19, review: "What makes the design of the Chester River Press edition such a successful and superior book is its unpretentiousness and its typographic willingness to facilitate an uninhibited read of Conrad's visceral, morally ambiguous tale. The spartan yet subtly flexible architecture of the 100 meticulously crafted page-spreads offers a reading experience that is quietly contemplative and sublime yet is still imbued with a high level of gravitas. ...

"The text blocks provide a structural foundation out of which Mr. Castelli's sepia-rendered etchings emerge as unflinchingly objective, visually candid portrayals of this tale's most seminal moments. They interrupt the flow of the narrative just enough to afford the reader crucial opportunities to contemplate the themes that Conrad has woven into this novella."
$500