Widener's collection of original manuscripts has been increased by a recent gift of papers in the handwriting of Joseph Conrad.

One of the manuscripts is an original draft of the opening chapters of Conrad's "Lord Jim," one of the author's most brilliant psychological studies of character. The paper is much interlined, and shows what extensive changes were made by the author before the final draft was sent to the publishers. A comparison of the manuscript with the printed page is made easy by the way the manuscript is placed in the Treasure Room exhibit, the original draft and a printed volume being placed side by side.

The rest of the exhibit consists of two small notebooks, describing a journey in the Congo during June and July, 1890. One contains notes of a march neross country with perters and native guides. The other tells of a trip by boat on the Congo River. Of unusual interest in the second notebook are the precise directions given for passing from point to point. How suags and shoals are to be avoided is also clearly set forth. Both books are in the anthor's own hand.