CHANCE. A Tale in Two Parts

1914. [the Quinn / Doubleday copy] London: Methuen & Co., (1913) [sic]. 8 pp ads dated Autumn 1913. Original green cloth decorated in gilt.

First Edition, first published state (Supino's "State C"), of the novel that revived Conrad's career, a popular smash after about a decade without one. Conrad had been working on it since 1906. It was the success of CHANCE that caused many of his earlier books to be reprinted. The "first published state" is any of the first three impressions that has a cancel title leaf: quoting from Supino, "Because 4051 copies of the first three impressions were furnished with cancels, it is not possible to determine to which of the first three impressions any of the various states belong." (Supino goes on to list States "A" through "H" of copies of the first published state, each with various differences -- with "F" and "G" reading "Second Edition" and "H" reading "Third Edition.") State "C", as here, has a cancel title leaf reading "First Published in 1913" on the title verso -- with 29.5mm between the author's name and the top of the motto and with 59.5mm between "Sir Thomas Browne" and the top of the publisher's imprint; with no closing quotes after "Narcissus" on the half-title verso; and (in the ads) with CHANCE with no five-line blurb on p. 2 and with THE HARROVIANS not present on p. 6. This is a bright copy that would be FINE except for a bit of the almost-unavoidable foxing on some leaves. Supino A17.7.0 and specifically "State C" on p. 228; Cagle A17a.10. Housed in a cloth slipcase with inner chemise. Provenance (which is amazing): (1) bookplate of John Quinn (1870-1924) -- the Ohio-born lawyer who was not simply a major collector of 1890-1924 literature, he was an important patron of literary figures. He gave advice and financial assistance to Ezra Pound and to T.S. Eliot (in gratitude, Eliot sent Quinn the original manuscript of THE WASTE LAND), he helped W.B. Yeats found the Abbey Theatre, and he fought censorship battles over ULYSSES for James Joyce. But Quinn was especially connected to Conrad, as he bought up most of Conrad's manuscripts to provide the author with much-needed cash. (2) bookplate of Conrad's American publisher Nelson Doubleday (1889-1949, president of Doubleday Page/Doran 1922-1946) -- son of the founder Frank Nelson Doubleday ("Effendi", 1862-1934), and father of the final Doubleday head Nelson Doubleday Jr. (1933-2015), who had more interest in the New York Mets and sold the publishing company to Bertelsmann AG in 1985. (3) discreet bookplate of David J. Supino, author of the major 2022 bibliography of Conrad (also, Supino's penciled notation appears on the front free endpaper).