# Is "Victory: An Island Tale" by Joseph Conrad a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Victory: An Island Tale by Joseph Conrad (Doubleday, Page & Company, Garden City, New York, 1915) is identified by: First edition: Doubleday, Page & Company, Garden City, New York, 1915 (published 26 March 1915). Classic precedence trap: the American Doubleday, Page edition (26 March 1915) precedes the English Methuen (London) edition of September 1915 — the US printing is the true first, roughly six months ahead.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition: Doubleday, Page & Company, Garden City, New York, 1915 (published 26 March 1915)
- First-state point of issue: the closing quotation mark is LACKING on line 3 of page 431 (present in later states)
- Bound in dark blue cloth, lettered in gilt with a gilt vignette on the front cover; collation includes a half-title and runs to 462 pp. plus colophon, the copyright/colophon leaf carrying the Country Life Press device (Doubleday's Garden City plant) that is the standard first-issue indicator for the period
- The author's Preface present in the later English edition is not in this American printing
- Publisher imprint reads Doubleday, Page & Company, Garden City, New York
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Joseph Conrad |
| Publisher | Doubleday, Page & Company, Garden City, New York |
| Year | 1915 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition: Doubleday, Page & Company, Garden City, New York, 1915 (published 26 March 1915) |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
First edition: Doubleday, Page & Company, Garden City, New York, 1915 (published 26 March 1915). First-state point of issue: the closing quotation mark is LACKING on line 3 of page 431 (present in later states). Bound in dark blue cloth, lettered in gilt with a gilt vignette on the front cover; collation includes a half-title and runs to 462 pp. plus colophon, the copyright/colophon leaf carrying the Country Life Press device (Doubleday's Garden City plant) that is the standard first-issue indicator for the period. The author's Preface present in the later English edition is not in this American printing.

## Is this the true first?
Classic precedence trap: the American Doubleday, Page edition (26 March 1915) precedes the English Methuen (London) edition of September 1915 — the US printing is the true first, roughly six months ahead. The Methuen London first is separately identified by the first-state title page with a comma after 'Essex Street'; both editions are collected but the US is primary.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue documented for the 1915 first. Later Doubleday and Methuen impressions lack the first-issue points (the p.431 quotation mark is corrected in later states).

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Victory: An Island Tale* by Joseph Conrad a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/victory-an-island-tale
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.