A SET OF SIX

1908. London: Methuen & Co., (1908). 40 pp ads dated February 1908. Original dark violet-blue cloth decorated in dark red and gilt.

First Edition of this collection of six short stories, which consisted of 2,524 copies (including 595 for the colonies). Conrad described these tales -- "Gaspar Ruiz," "The Informer," "The Brute," "An Anarchist," "The Duel" and "Il Conde" -- as "stories of incident -- action -- not of analysis... stories in which I've tried my best to be simply entertaining." One of the stories, "The Duel," was published separately later that year in America (as "The Point of Honor"); this would cause a substantial delay (until 1915) in the American publication of the complete A SET OF SIX. In any event, there had been no rush to do so earlier, since in 1908 Conrad was at the nadir of his career -- a situation unchanged until he hit it big in 1914 with CHANCE. This copy is in the first published state, with the half-title and title leaves (a conjugate cancel) glued onto the stubs of the original leaves (to correct a pre-publication error on the half-title verso). This copy has the ad catalogue in the earliest-dated state, February 1908; most copies are dated either June or August (this latter month is when the book was actually published). This is a very good-plus copy (minor wear at the extremities); the spine gilt remains rather bright, the endpapers remain intact, and there is scarcely any of the usual foxing within. (The choice of dark red lettering on the front cover was unfortunate, since one never sees it "standing out" against the dark violet cloth.) Supino A13.1.0 (this copy); Cagle A13a(2). Provenance: discreet bookplate of the Conrad bibliographer David J.Supino.