CBA17--20.LFL 9/22/2015 1 A19 VICTORY 1915 A. First American edition. (1) First printing VICTORY | AN ISLAND TALE | BY | JOSEPH CONRAD | [publisher’s device] | Calling shapes and beckoning shadows dire | And airy tongues that syllable men’s names | On sands and shores and desert wildernesses | - COMUS. | GARDEN CITY NEW YORK | DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY | 1915 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 VICTORY | AN ISLAND TALE | BY | JOSEPH CONRAD | Calling shapes and beckoning shadows dire | And airy tongues that syllable men’s names | On sands and shores and desert wildernesses. | COMUS | METHUEN & CO. LTD. | 36 ESSEX STREET, W.C. | LONDON 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 VICTORY | AN ISLAND TALE | BY | JOSEPH CONRAD | Calling shapes and beckoning shadows dire | And airy tongues that syllable men’s names | On sands and shores and desert wildernesses. | COMUS | TORONTO | THE COPP CLARK COMPANY, LIMITED | 1915 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 VICTORY | AN ISLAND TALE | BY | JOSEPH CONRAD | Calling shapes and beckoning shadows dire | And airy tongues that syllable men’s names | On sands and shores and desert wildernesses. | COMUS | METHUEN & CO. LTD. | 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. | LONDON | Colonial Library 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. CBA17--20.LFL 9/22/2015 4 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.