First Printing VICTORY

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A19 VICTORY 1915

A. First American edition.

(1) First printing

Collation: [1–25]8 [26]4 [27–30]8; pp. [i-vi] [1–2] 3–462 [463–464] [2]; 187 x 126 mm.; printed on wove paper.

Contents: p. i, half-title ‘VICTORY | [circular ship device] | p. ii, list of seventeen works by Conrad plus the two collaborations with Ford; p. iii, title; p. iv, ‘Copyright, 1915, by | DOUBLEDAY PAGE & COMPANY | All rights reserved, including that of | translation into foreign languages, | including the Scandinavian | COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY THE FRANK A. MUNSEY COMPANY’; p. v, dedication to Perceval and Maisie Gibbon, p. vi, blank, p. 1, sectional title, ‘PART I’; p. 2, blank; pp. 3–462, text; p. 463, ‘[printer’s device] | THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS | GARDEN CITY, N. Y.’; p. 464 and the last two pages, blank.

Binding: (a) Dark blue linen finish cloth. Front cover stamped in gold ‘[within a frame of two rules terminating at the base in a circular ship device, a gold panel with lettering in cover cloth] VICTORY | [rule] | JOSEPH CONRAD’; spine stamped in gold ‘VICTORY | [rule] | JOSEPH | CONRAD | DOUBLEDAY | PAGE & CO.’ All edges trimmed. White wove end-papers; front end-paper printed in brown and red with a map keyed to Conrad’s works. Dust jacket of light blue wove paper printed in gold and dark blue.

(b) In the ‘Deep Sea’ format. As above except in blue limp leather. Spine stamped in gold ‘[ship device] | VICTORY | CONRAD | DOUBLEDAY | PAGE & CO.’

Copies examined: TXL (Deep Sea)

Notes First printings: In September 1913 Conrad completed his latest revisions in the typescript of Victory, still untitled and referred to in his correspondence as either the “D” novel or the Island Story, and sent it to Pinker. Serial rights were sold to Munsey’s Magazine, here it eventually appeared in their February 1915 issue (published January 20th). But before it went to press Conrad insisted on still further revision. He wrote to Pinker, November 1914, “Even for serial purposes I can’t do a mere fake. I am too big a person to allow anything of mine to go out even to Munsey’s which is obviously not fit for intelligent readers.” However, in spite of Conrad’s efforts to get the novel right for the magazine, Munsey’s editors took enormous liberties with his text. “Pray let Doubleday know by cable if necessary,” he wrote to Pinker 18 January 1915, “that he must not set up Victory from the magazine text. It won’t do. I have received the slips on Sat. and I see that they have cut, transposed and altered the paragraphing more than I can stand. If Doubleday have got the typed copy from Munsey they may set from that disregarding all corrections except those that are CBA17--20.LFL 9/22/2015 2

obviously made by me. See? If not then they must have a rough typed Copy here which I would correct on purpose. “I look upon the matter as of considerable importance. We must have the same text for bookform in Eng and the U.S. – and that text cannot be the Munsey magazine text.” A comparison of the text in Munsey’s and that in the Doubleday edition shows numerous changes ranging from altered punctuation to additions or deletions in the text of from a few words to several sentences. It would appear, therefore, the copy-text for the Doubleday edition was the “rough typed Copy”, with still further revisions added by Conrad before sending it, which Conrad had by him when he wrote to Pinker January 18th rather than the typescript earlier sent to Munsey’s. Doubleday’s copyright application states printing, from electrotype plates, was completed 13 March 1915. Presumably, this has reference to the copies for the standard cloth bound format for, while no copy of the ‘Deep Sea’ printing has been located, and order of printing cannot be established on grounds of typewear, collateral evidence indicates the cloth bound copies were printed first. The dust jacket of the first printing does not include Victory among the Conrad books also available in leather, and the publisher’s flyer announcing Victory lists it only as available in cloth. This same flyer contains an advertisement for the ‘Deep Sea Edition of the Works of Joseph Conrad’ in eleven volumes, bound in sea blue limp leather at $1.50 per volume or $16.50 for the set. Victory is not included in the eleven volumes. A month after publication in cloth, Publishers’ Weekly for 24 April 1915 carried the note, ‘Doubleday, Page announce the immediate publication of Joseph Conrad’s Victory in the Regular Deep Sea Leather edition’ and then on June 12th advertised it as ‘now ready.’

Publication: 26 March 1915 at $1.35. Copyright was provisionally entered 20 January 1915 and assigned to Conrad. A copy of Munsey’s Magazine for February 1915 was deposited and the certificate was sent to Munsey’s. Final copyright was entered by Doubleday, Page at which time two copies of the book were deposited at the Library of Congress.

Subsequent printings: In the absence of publisher’s records only those later printings which have been seen can be noted. ‘These are surprisingly few in view of the book’s later popularity. After the initial two printings mentioned above, Victory was reprinted from the first American edition plates in 1918 and again in 1921. No other printings from this original setting have been located. After 1921 the book was reprinted numerous times from the ‘Sun-Dial Edition’ setting.

B. First English edition.

(1) First printing, domestic issue, first state

Note: During the course of printing the comma in the second line of the imprint was dropped. In these copies the line reads ‘36 ESSEX STREET W.C.’

Collation: π4 1–268; pp. [i-iv] v [vi] vii-viii [1–2] 3–415 [416]; 189 x 124 mm.; printed on wove paper.

Contents: p. i, half-title ‘VICTORY’; p. ii, list of sixteen works by Conrad plus the two collaborations with Ford; p. iii, title; p. iv, ‘First Published in 1915; p. v, dedication to Perceval CBA17--20.LFL 9/22/2015 3

and Maisie Gibbon; p. vi, blank; pp. vii-viii, ‘AUTHOR’S NOTE’ signed ‘J. C.’; p. 1, sectional title ‘PART I’; p. 2, blank; pp. 3–415, text; p. 416, ‘Printed by | MORRISON & GIBB LIMITED | Edinburgh’.

Binding: Red linen finish cloth. Spine stamped in gold ‘[shell and coral design] | VICTORY | JOSEPH CONRAD | [shell and coral design] | METHVEN’. Top and fore edge trimmed, bottom edge untrimmed. White wove end-papers. Bound in at the end are four pages of advertisements for ‘METHUEN’S POPULAR NOVELS’ dated autumn 1915 followed by a 32 page publisher’s catalogue dated on p. 31 ‘8 / 5 / 15’. Dust jacket of sized white paper with letterpress printed in blue and a coloured illustration on the front.

Copies examined:

(2) First printing, domestic issue, second state (transferred to the colonial market)

[no copy located] 2,530 copies from the first printing, domestic issue, were sold to Edwards, Dunlop for sale in the colonial market. These were bound in the colonial cloth binding (described below under the colonial issue) and, presumably, were rubber stamped ‘Colonial Library’ on the title page, below the imprint.

(3) First printing, Canadian issue

Collation: π4 1–268; pp. [i-iv] v [vi] vii-viii [1–2] 3–415 [416]; 189 x 124 mm.; printed on wove paper.

Contents: Same as in the first English edition, first printing, domestic issue, above, except pages ii and iv are blank.

Binding: Red linen finish cloth. Spine stamped in gold ‘[shell and coral design | VICTORY | JOSEPH.CONRAD | [shell and coral design] | THE | COPP CLARK CO. | LIMITED.’ Top and fore edge trimmed, bottom edge untrimmed. White wove end-papers. [No specimen of the dust jacket has been seen, but Methuen’s ledger shows they were printed at the same time as were those for the domestic and colonial issues of the book.]

Copies examined:

(4) First printing, colonial issue, first state

Collation: π4 1–26;8 pp. [i-iv] v [vi] vii-viii [1–2] 3–415 [416]; 189 x 124 mm., printed on wove paper.

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Contents: Same as in the first English edition, first printing, domestic issue, above, except page i: half-title ‘{bl}Methuen’s Colonial Library{/bl} | [short rule] | VICTORY’.

Binding: a. Blue linen finish cloth. Spine printed in black ‘[leaf design] | [rule] | VICTORY | . | JOSEPH CONRAD | [rule] | [leaf design] | [within a single rule frame] METHUEN’; back cover blind stamped ‘METHUEN’S COLONIAL LIBRARY’. Top and fore edge trimmed, bottom edge untrimmed. White wove end-papers printed with advertisements for Methuen’s Colonial Library. Bound in at the end is a 32 page publisher’s catalogue dated on p. 31 ‘8 / 5 / 15’. [No specimen of the dust jacket has been seen, but Methuen’s ledger shows they were printed at the same time as were those for the domestic and Canadian issues of the book.]

b. Paper wrappers. No copy located.

Copies examined:

(5) First printing, colonial issue, second state (transferred to the domestic market)

Note: During the course of printing the above cancel title pages, the second full stop in the second line of the imprint was dropped. Only one copy examined (in the Berg Collection, New York Public Library) has the cancel title with the fully punctuated line, ‘36 ESSEX STREET, W.C.’ In all others, it is in the second state as in the transcription above.

Collation: π4(-π1,2; +π1.2) 1–268; pp. [i-iv] v [vi] vii-viii [1–2] 3–415 [416]; 189 x 124 mm.; printed on wove paper.

Contents: As in the first English edition, first printing, domestic issue, above.

Binding: As in the first English edition, first printing, domestic issue, above.

Copies examined:

Notes First printings: As has been noted under the first American edition, the text of Victory published in Munsey’s was not a satisfactory copy-text for either the American or English bookform editions so a corrected type copy was prepared for Doubleday. By this time the English edition had been rescheduled for publication in August so it was decided Methuen should set up from a set of Doubleday galleys onto which Conrad’s corrections had been transcribed.45 These were sent out in late February and by March Conrad was reading proof on the English edition and, as usual, finding fault with Methuen. On March 30 he wrote to Pinker: “I ask you not so much as my agent but as a friend caring for the chances of my work to remonstrate with Methuen about the type and the setting up of Victory. The print and the close lines are too impossible. People have been speaking to me with indignation of the typography of Chance – and this is as bad. It tires and confuses even me a very practical reader. It isn’t fair to handicap a book in such a fashion. And this horrid mean type, that crowded page are only for the purpose of giving room to bind their catalogue into the vol – as they did for Chance. CBA17--20.LFL 9/22/2015 5

“Those people have no decency. But I expect you to stop that abomination for which there is no excuse from any point of view. “I can’t expect them to give me the type like Doubleday’s (I am sending you a few pages for comparison) but pray do let them understand that there must be a change in the way of letter type and fewer lines on a page. Just look at the dedications. Have you ever seen anything of such ugly and mean appearance?” He followed this letter with another in April in which he wrote: “I am holding here all the proofs of Victory till I hear from you in the matter of the book’s get-up to which I attach the greatest importance. “I am resolved to write to Colvin (Methuen’s friend) and to Lucas, if necessary, and to make all the fuss I can if my request is not complied with.” The fact is, Conrad had it well fixed in his mind that Methuen was not giving his book front billing in his advertisements and so had a grudge against him which no re-setting of Victory in any type whatever would have solved. Somehow, Pinker soothed the troubled waters, retrieved the proofs and convinced the grumbling author the book would have to go forward without being completely reset. It was Conrad’s last book with Methuen and one wonders who was more relieved at that, the author, the publisher or the agent. The proofs which Pinker retrieved had further changes, those final polishing touches which Conrad could never resist adding in proof, and which appear in the English but not the American edition.46 Conrad also wrote the Author’s Note which first appears in this edition. On 5 May 1915 Methuen ordered 8,000 copies of Victory printed by Morrison and Gibb. Of these, 520 were to have the imprint of the Toronto publisher, Copp Clark, and another 1500 were to have the Methuen Colonial Library title and half-title. The entire printing, plus ten overs, was delivered between May 26th and 29th. Meanwhile, the firm of Edwards, Dunlop and Co., book and paper exporters, placed an unexpectedly large order for 2,530 copies. The first two binding orders placed, both on May 26th, were for the Canadian and the Edwards, Dunlop copies47 and all copies from both orders were in hand by June 11th. Presumably, they were shipped overseas immediately. On June 24th, 900 of the colonial issue copies were ordered bound, 450 in cloth and 450 in paper wrappers. These were received, bound, between August 6th and 16th. There were then left in the unbound stock 3,460 domestic and 600 colonial issue copies. Because the large Edwards, Dunlop order had left Methuen short of domestic issue copies, the 600 colonial copies were supplied with cancel domestic conjugate title / half-titles and transferred to the domestic stock. The 4,060 unbound copies from the first printing were ordered bound July 28th and received back from the binder between August 19th and September 23rd. A second printing of 2,000 copies, required to replace those supplied to Edwards, Dunlop, had been ordered May 26th and was received, with fifteen overs, June 19th. All the second printing copies contained domestic issue preliminaries48 with the statement ‘SECOND EDITION’ on the title page. A third printing of 1500 copies was ordered August 19th but before delivery it became evident, with publication still a month away, that initial orders for the book were going to exceed the number of “first” and “second edition” copies in stock. Not wanting to place “third edition” copies on sale the day of publication, on September 8th Methuen ordered Morrison and Gibb to print 1750 cancel titles, 500 as first edition and 1250 as second edition, to be used in copies of the third printing.49 The third printing was received with 122 overs September 10th and ordered bound for domestic issue September 14th. To compensate for the lost “third edition”, the fourth printing, ordered September 7th, was for 2,000 copies, “All Eng[lish]. 1000 as 3rd [edition] 1000 as 4th [edition]”. From the fact that copies with the ‘SECOND EDITION’ cancel title pages have a conjugate half-title, it would appear that the printer, having in his memory the double cancels ordered five weeks earlier, printed these cancels with conjugate half-titles also. This combination of cancels and mis-labeled printings makes it necessary to check more than the statements on the title page CBA17--20.LFL 9/22/2015 6

and its verso to know whether any given copy is a first or later printing. The following points will help identify the thirteen issues and states of the first four printings of Victory:

(1) First printing, domestic issue, first state

Preliminaries π4 (normal gathering for a signature of four leaves). Domestic binding. 3,460 copies.

(2) First printing, domestic issue, second state (transferred to the colonial market)

Preliminaries π4 (normal gathering for a signature of four leaves). Colonial binding. No copy located, but presumably rubber stamped ‘Colonial Library’ below the imprint on the title page. 2,530 copies.

(3) First printing, Canadian issue

Preliminaries π4 (normal gathering for a signature of four leaves). Copp Clark imprint. Canadian binding. 520 copies.

(4) First printing, colonial issue, first state

Preliminaries π4 (normal gathering for a signature of four leaves). ‘Colonial Library’ printed on the title page beneath the imprint. Colonial binding (450 cloth; 450 paper wrappers). 900 copies.

(5) First printing, colonial issue, second state (transferred to the domestic market)

Preliminaries π4(-π1,2; +π1.2) with cancel conjugate domestic title and half-title replacing the disjunct colonial title and half-title. Domestic binding. 600 copies.

(6) Second printing, domestic issue

Preliminaries π4 (normal gathering for a signature of four leaves). ‘SECOND EDITION’ on title page. Domestic binding. 1765 copies.

(7) Second printing, colonial issue

Preliminaries π4 (normal gathering for a signature of four leaves). ‘SECOND EDITION’ on title page. Rubber stamped ‘Colonial Library’ beneath the imprint on the title page. Colonial binding (150 cloth; 100 paper wrappers). 250 copies.

(8) Third printing, pre-publication state

[no copy located, but, hypothetically, as follows]

Preliminaries π4 (normal gathering for a signature of four leaves). ‘THIRD EDITION’ on the title page. Presumably, no copies were bound in the pre-publication state.

(9) Third printing, published state, with the first printing title page

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Preliminaries π4 ({s5}π2) with cancel title page with no edition statement replacing the ‘THIRD EDITION’ title page. Domestic binding. 500 copies. Copies which appear to be from this printing also have been seen with the four leaves disjunct. The explanation for this would appear to be a shop error at the binder at the time of cancellation.

(10) Third printing, published state, with the ‘SECOND EDITION’ title page

Preliminaries -π4(-π1,2;+2) with ‘SECOND EDITION’ cancel title page replacing the ‘THIRD EDITION’ title page. Domestic binding. 1122 copies. The reason for conjugate half-titles and title cancels is a matter of conjecture, possibly due to a binder’s error.

11) Fourth printing, domestic issue, with the ‘THIRD EDITION’ title page

Preliminaries π4 (normal gathering for a signature of four leaves). ‘THIRD EDITION’ on the title page. Domestic binding, 1000 copies.

(12) Fourth printing, domestic issue, with the ‘FOURTH EDITION’ title page

Preliminaries π4 (normal gathering for a signature of four leaves). ‘FOURTH EDITION’ on the title page. Domestic binding. 817 copies.

(13) Fourth printing, colonial issue, with ‘FOURTH EDITION’ title page

Preliminaries π4 (normal gathering for a signature of four leaves). ‘FOURTH EDITION’ on title page. Rubber stamped ‘Colonial Library’ below the imprint on the title page. Colonial binding (Paper wrappers), 200 copies. It may also be noted that there are three variant forms of the second line in the imprint: (1) ‘36 ESSEX STREET, W.C.’: (2) ‘36 ESSEX STREET W.C.’ [dropping the comma]; (3) ‘36 ESSEX STREET, W.C’ [comma replaced and final full stop dropped]. An insufficient number of copies of the second, third, and fourth printings and of the cancel titles have been sent to allow more than speculation. On the basis of very slight information, it appears printing began with the fully punctuated line, then dropped the comma before the first printing was completed (May 26th). The state of the line in the genuine (not the cancel) second printing title is unknown (second printing completed June 19th). In the cancel title / half-title (printed July 29th) the line exists both with the fully punctuated line (the missing comma having been replaced) and with the comma present but without the final full stop. No copy of the genuine third printing title has been located. In the fourth printing, ordered September 7th and received September 24th, the final full stop is missing. In the single cancel titles ordered September 8th the line is fully punctuated. As these cancels were ordered the day after the fourth printing, the original type may have been in use and, hence, a duplicate setting may have been made to print the cancels, in which case they are not related to the variations in the original setting. If this hypothesis is correct, there are four states of the line: (1) fully punctuated; (2) comma dropped, (3) fully punctuated, the comma replaced; (4) final full stop dropped. Copies from the first printing have the line in states 1 and 2; second printing unknown; cancel title / half-titles used on the colonial issue copies from the first printing transferred to the domestic market have the line in states 3 and 4; third printing unknown; copies from the fourth printing with either the ‘THIRD EDITION’ or ‘FOURTH EDITION’ title page have the line in the fourth state.

Publication: Colonial issue, 10 August 1915; domestic issue 24 September 1915 at 6s. No official publication date is available for the Canadian issue. However, as the American edition had CBA17--20.LFL 9/22/2015 8

been published in March, it is probable the Canadian copies went on sale as soon as they reached Copp Clark, very likely around mid-July 1915. The British Museum depository copy was received September 22nd and Jessie Conrad’s copy (in the Beinecke Library) was inscribed to her September 1915; both are first printing, domestic issue, first state.

Subsequent printings: The first four printings noted above total 13,644 copies, of which 9,264 were issued in England at 6s. On 21 September 1915, only a few days before publication, a fifth 6s. printing of 3,024 copies was ordered. Of these 1,661 were issued in England at full price, 488 were transferred to the colonial market, and the remaining 875 copies were supplied with cancel titles and cheap, inked bindings, and put on sale in April 1917 at 2s.6d. Further printings from the first English typesetting were as follows: 6th printing, January 1919, 1000 (6s.); 7th printing, June 1920, 10,000 (2s. 6d., ‘cheap edition’); 8th printing, September 1920, 1000 (6s., 250 copies ordered bound November 1920, 100 in January 1930, and 100 in January 1940 for publication at 4s; the remaining 550 unbound copies were destroyed by enemy action, April 1941); 9th printing, August 1923, 7,500 (2s. 6d.) In August 1924 the book was reset in a smaller format. The first printing from this new setting, the third English edition, was styled by the publishers the “tenth edition” – i.e. their tenth printing of the book regardless of typesetting. The actual tenth printing of the first English edition, styled “eleventh edition” by the publishers, was ordered August 1924 in 5,400 2s. 6d. copies. Then followed the 11th printing, styled “twelfth edition”, August 1924, 1500 copies at 3s. 6d. which continued in print through 1939. The last printings from the first edition setting were the 12th, styled “fourteenth edition”, February 1926, 4,900 (2s. 6d.), and the 13th, styled “eighteenth edition”, March 1930, 4,865 (2s. 6d.). In all something over 52,850 copies of Victory were printed from the first English edition setting before the moulds were finally destroyed 21 November 1941. Copies from the third English edition were printed as follows: 1st printing, styled “tenth edition”, August 1924, 1500 (3s. 6d.); 2nd printing, styled “eleventh edition” (there were printings of both the first and third English editions styled “eleventh edition”), May 1925, 2,000 (3s. 6d.); 3rd printing, styled “thirteenth edition”, not located in the Methuen stock ledger but noted on the verso of titles in later printings as published October 1925; 4th printing, styled “fifteenth edition”, May 1926, 3,000 (3s. 6d.); 5th printing, styled “sixteenth edition”, August 1927, 2,000 (3s. 6d.); 6th printing, styled “seventeenth edition”, September 1925 , 5,000 (3s. 6d.).

C. Second American edition.

(1) First American printing

Published as volume XV of the Doubleday, Page ‘Sun-Dial Edition’ of Conrad’s works (see B1a, below).

(2) First English Printing

Published in the Dent ‘Uniform Edition’ of Conrad’s works (see B1b, Vol. XV, below).

D. Second English edition.

Published as volume XV of the Heinemann edition of Conrad’s works (see B2, below). GENERAL NOTE ON THE CLEMENT SHORTER CONRAD PAMPHLETS Clement Shorter, journalist and editor of The Illustrated London News (1891–1900) and then of Sphere, a literary journal he founded in 1900, issued a number of privately printed pamphlets containing CBA17--20.LFL 9/22/2015 9

works by various authors, most of which had previously appeared only in periodicals. Six of these contained pieces by Joseph Conrad:

One Day More (1917) First News (1918) Well Done! (1918) The Polish Question (1919) The Tale (1919) London River (1919)

Each of these, according to its statement of limitation, was printed in an edition of twenty-five copies. However, because some of the copies are numbered and signed by Shorter and others are not, some collectors have questioned whether or not the limitation was strictly adhered to. Richard Curle was among these and when he was assisting in the preparation of the auction catalogue for the sale of his Conrad collection by the American Art Association he wrote to Swann expressing his doubts and suggesting a note to that effect in the catalogue. Swann, not wishing to depreciate the potential value of the pamphlets, wrote to T.J. Wise (Shorter had died the year before) asking if he could support the authenticity of the limitation. Wise, evidently disturbed at having such questions raised, contacted Curle and there followed a brief exchange of letters in which Wise takes a very righteous but, nevertheless, defensive stand stating at one time that “with a small private edition, ‘20 copies only printed’ means what is says, & to silently increase the number is fraud” and at another attempting to explain away author’s bound proofs, trial copies and other similar devices for extending the limits of the limited edition. Curle’s letters have not survived, but Wise’s have and, as they are of some interest, we print them here:

7.3.27 My dear Curle, Many thanks for your very frank letter. It is just what I had anticipated receiving from you. I shall now not post the letter I had written to Mr. Swann. There was a very good reason why the whole of the pamphlets were not numbered and signed. This was largely the result of my expostulation. Shorter had intended to number & sign them all. I hate to have books scribbled in by persons other than their authors, and asked him not to spoil the copies he gave to me.50 Hence he afterwards only signed his pamphlets when requested to do so. But when you suggest to Mr. Swann’s cataloguer to insert that note, you forgot that you were making a serious charge not only against a dead man, but against a firm of the highest standing, who would certainly not allow it to pass without taking action against you. If the firm you mention are rogues,51 as you assert to my amazement, it does not follow that another firm is equally dishonest. And I cannot for the life of me imagine why you wish to spoil the whole series of pmnphlets by casting doubt upon the certificates they carry. I would much rather you deleted the note altogether; because even as it stands I shall be compelled, when it appears, to write and explain [“Challenge” was written first and struck out in favor of “explain”] it. I have ventured to suggest one or two trifling changes in the text of your note.52 – – – – – – – – – I was sorry to learn from your secretary this afternoon that you were not well, and were confined to your room. I do hope that it is nothing more than the morning after a late night! We shall look for the pleasure of seeing you on Saturday evening at 7.30. We shall be quite alone, so by no means trouble to change your rig. Affectionately yours Thos. J. Wise P.S. CBA17--20.LFL 9/22/2015 10

I have re-read your note. I don’t think I can after all object to it – provided you add the words “upon the assurance of the printers”. What I “assert” is valueless without this official support.

11.3.27 My dear Curle, I am sorry you wrote again, as after your previous letter the matter might quite •well have been dropped so far as we are concerned. But the last letter contains so much that is inaccurate, we shall be compelled to have a few minutes’ friendly talk over it tomorrow evening. On Monday you fired the charge into me, giving me notice, that your revise was going to N. York Wednesday. I could not gain access with you, & the prospect was that no communication could be held between us until too late. The only possible thing for me to do was what you ought to have done in the first place – go direct to Eyre & Spottiswoode & ascertain the facts, instead of indulging in supposition & fancy & possibilities. Besides this: you raised the same question 3 years ago. I made the matter quite clear to you then that, after pressing Shorter closely, I was satisfied that all was in order. The whole thing has made me quite ill this week, & I cannot write more. Believe me to have no personal or unfriendly feeling whatever, so far as you & I are concerned. Alys O’ng (?) yrs Thos. J. Wise

14.3.27 My dear Curle, Many thanks for your letter with its contents. I return you the checque which belongs to you, for under no condition could I possibly allow you to vary our very proper arrangement. In the first place, if you decline to accept it, it will look to me as though you desired to end our friendship, – an event which I should very keenly regret. In the second place an engagement is an engagement, & must not be broken. You have done extremely well all round, & I am very much indebted to you. Had you not dealt with those odds & ends on my behalf I should some time or other have turned them over to Maggs, who would certainly not have given so much for them - for when it comes to turning out books of my own I simply cannot chaffer over them! So “Finis” to that! – – – – – – – – We are engaged on the next two Saturday evenings, and the two Sundays as well. Would it meet your convenience to come to lunch one morning? Say on Monday next? – – – – – – – – As to that wretched C.K.S. discussion let it be dropped: only, I must again disagree with you on one point. I never had the faintest or remotest doubt of your motives. I know you too well to have the smallest notion that you were in the least unfair, or anything the reverse of upright. What did upset me was that you should charge – or probably appear to me to charge – Shorter & Messrs E. & S. with having issued books bearing mistrustful imprints. I now appreciate your point of view (that extra copies may lawfully be printed, an act which I regard as dishonest):53 & I think you appreciate mine. So once more “Finis”! – – – – – – – – Now as to Mr. Swann’s letter. It’s a great pity we could not have discussed the matter before I replied to it yesterday. But after all there was not a very great difference in our answers, – simply this: you climbed down: I upheld you all I could.54 The attitude I adopted was this. The books are “proofs” from the printers & ‘publishers’ point of view, because they were produced with the object of receiving the latest corrections of the author. But that from a purely Bibliographical point of view they were something more than this. The printers supplied (1) galley proofs, and (2) page proofs. Then, after all was presumably finished, the author wanted 3 or 4 pulls of the completed book in bound state, and these were of the nature of the “Trial Books” of Tennyson, Rossetti, & Shaw. That “The Rose by any other name, &c.,” and whether one chose to CBA17--20.LFL 9/22/2015 11

call them “proofs” or “privately printed trial books” they remained the same; i.e. the first printed copies of the work, of which there was a small edition of 3 copies. – Your affectionate friend Thos. J. Wise

March 17th 1927 My dear Curle, I’m sorry you are unable to come to lunch just now: we must look for the pleasure of seeing you later on. Now that you explain, I can fully understand your attitude of mind. It shows once more the shortcomings of the phone. Your secretary did not quite accurately report what I said; – or, more probably, did not fully appreciate the meaning of the words I used. I remember these words distinctly, & they were:

“I know that Mr. Curle and Mr. Shorter entertained feelings of mutual dislike, but that is no occasion why Mr. Curle should. . . . . “ This may appear to be but slightly different, but is in reality greatly different, from saying that Mr. Curle’s actions were actuated by his dislike. The latter suggestion would have been absurd. As to the certificates. One must not regard the certificate appended to the large published edition as identical with that attached to a small private issue. When a publisher advertises so many copies only for sale, the thing is carried out carefully, & the number is at once attached on each. The publisher is in that instance doing no wrong in printing the needful additional author’s copies, &c., leaving them unsigned, or marking them in some manner. But even this I do not like: the whole number ought to be recorded in the original certificate. But with a small private edition, “20 copies only printed” means what is says, & to silently increase the number is fraud. Try a jury, & hear their verdict! Alys yours Thos. J. Wise

20.4.27 My dear Curle, Yours is just to hand. I had already recd a copy of the Catalogue. This I am now sending on to a friend who will, I think, cable some bids.55 Yours I shall keep. By all means come to dinner (?), Friday: Louise says she will manage. I have a man coming in the afternoon, but I will get him off in time. So please come at 7.30. As catalogues go, this of yours is well above the average. Of course it has faults, but these are less than the average. The sale ought certainly to produce you £5000. I’m sorry if you have found fault with Swann. He was free to write me, & I was glad to reply (honestly) in such a way as to promote your best interest. Regarding the points you raise, we can discuss them when we meet. Your comments upon Shorter’s signing his pamphlets are quite in order. It was partly his own lack of order, & partly at my instigation, that all the pamphlets were not signed. I hate the addition to a pamphlet of any name other than that of the author himself, & asked for my copies to be left clean. J.C. told me at Margate distinctly that he had asked for those copies of “S.R.”56 I was most careful how I phrased my letter. Ever affectly yours Thos Wise

Evidently Curle was suspicious of the accuracy of Shorter’s limitation statements, while Wise was nervously defensive for reasons of his own. There is no evidence, however, that Shorter extended his editions by causing to be printed “author’s proofs” or “trial copies” to be laid down for later private sale to wealthy collectors as did Wise. A few “out of series” copies may have been printed – the depository copies in the British Museum are so indicated – but there is no indication of fraudulent over-printing. No two copies of the same pamphlet have turned up with the same CBA17--20.LFL 9/22/2015 12

number and in no case is any of the pamphlets bound in a large enough number of copies to suggest printing of more copies than the limitation statement claims.