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First editions enjoy a mystique in later years as copies become increasingly scarce, and collected editions proclaim a certain sumptuousness and finality; however, the workaday inexpensive editions often reveal more about a work's reputation, audience, and publication history than either of the former. Most collectors, for example, would rather have a cerise-embossed, gold-lettered copy of the English first edition of Under Western Eyes however faded, the rarest edition of any Conrad novel,[1] than a second edition, even though the latter involves a more revealing story of melted plates, misnamed impressions, and rising sales. Jocelyn Baines pointed out that Chance, the novel which marked the turning-point in Conrad's finances and popularity, unexpectedly sold 13,200 copies in England during the two years following its publication, compared with only 4,112 of Under Western Eyes— a superior novel in every way—during a comparable period.[2] Had the Methuen records and ledgers been fully available in the early 1960s, Baines could further have added that the popularity of Chance, Victory, and The Shadow-Line, whose first edition of 5,000 copies sold out in four days,[3] spurred on a 15,000 copy second edition of Under Western Eyes, the "Cheap Edition" published in 1917 by Methuen. The Cheap Edition has a particular significance because of what it did to Conrad's text and because it has heretofore been described as a reprint rather than a true second edition. It and its relationship to the first edition also offer a clear example of the corruption of a text and the necessity of distinguishing most carefully between editions and impressions.

The first edition of 5 October 1911 consisted of 3,000 copies, 2,250 for domestic sale and 750 for the colonial market, differing from the domestic

only by being bound in green cloth or paper wrappers rather than the cerise boards of the domestic copies.[4] A second impression (Methuen calls all the impressions "editions"[5]) of 1,500 (1,000 domestic and 500 colonial) was ordered 20 September 1911, but, since one inspected copy includes a Methuen autumn catalogue dated September 1913, copies were obviously bound as the market required.[6] With only 4,112 copies sold between October 1911 and the end of 1913, Methuen had 388 copies left to carry sales through early 1915, an indication of Conrad's lack of drawing power at this time. The stock ledgers show that 100 copies were bound 15 November 1913, 100 more 7 April 1914, and 11 28 May 1915, so that the supply was virtually exhausted before Methuen took delivery of 1,013 copies of the third impression 11 June 1915. In a letter of 2 November 1911 to J. B. Pinker, Conrad mentions having seen advertisements of the "3rd ed" (that is, the third impression of the first edition), but the only copy located to date carries the date 1915 and includes an advertising catalogue dated 8 May 1915.[7]

The Methuen ledgers contain the notations "M Dec 2/11", "S May 17/15" and "M destroyed 12/2/16", apparently referring to the creating of moulds, the stereotyping of plates, and the destroying of moulds 12 February 1916.[8] Before hurrying to the conclusion that the destruction of the moulds may also have involved the destruction of the plates of the first edition, thus necessitating the new edition ordered in May 1917, one must recognize that the "Sixth Edition" of April 1920 and the "Fourteenth Edition" of 1929 are actually the fourth and probably the firth impressions of the first edition plates. It is also probable that the "Tenth," "Thirteenth," and "Fifteenth" editions are later impressions as well, particularly since the ledgers carry

the notation "M&G" at the head of the entries for the "Fifteenth Edition," thus indicating that it was printed by Morrison and Gibbs, the printers of the first edition and its other impressions.

Under Western Eyes was not the breakthrough to a larger audience that Chance was soon to become because of the popular audience's mood. E.D.Y., an unidentified reader, inscribed in his copy, the following:

True, Under Western Eyes' pessimism and corrosive ironies, its maimed and deafened protagonist, would not have struck many readers during the Edwardian summer as being either "instructive" or "beautiful" and certainly not "elevating." The severe judgment of E.D.Y. apparently comes from a faithful reader of Conrad who most certainly had read The Secret Agent ("will now leave the uninteresting Russian conspirators, once and for all"), possibly The Nigger of the "Narcissus", Lord Jim, certain short stories such as "Youth", and, conjecturally, even The Mirror of the Sea.

The popular mood and Conrad's reputation had changed by the time of the Cheap Edition of 1917. In March, Methuen proposed an autumn shilling edition, and, on 3 July, Methuen wrote Pinker: "We presume that the author will not require to see proofs of the cheap edition of "UNDER WESTERN EYES". [¶] In dealing with Mr. Conrad's previous volumes in our cheap series, the printers have read the books for press and taken responsibility for the accuracy of the setting."[10]

The Cheap Edition condensed the front matter and text of the novel from a total of 382 pages and 24 signatures to 320 pages and 10 signatures, a savings of 62 pages, and shrunk the thirty-five line, 187x124 mm. page to a forty-line, 170x116 mm. page. The format changes were due, in part, to wartime paper shortages and undoubtably reflected a desire to reduce production costs as well. October 1917 brought the true second edition, called the "Fourth Edition," in a printing of 15,000 copies; yet another 5,000 copies were called for in 1920. In 1922, Methuen changed the paper size and format from foolscap octavo to crown octavo and the binding from maroon cloth to green cloth for the third, fourth, and fifth impressions of the second edition, calling

them the "Sixth," "Seventh," and "Eighth" Cheaper Editions, before returning to foolscap octavo for the sixth impression ("Ninth Edition"). Other impressions followed in August 1926, December 1926, July 1943, March 1946, 1948, and possibly in January 1925 and February 1929. Because no copies or descriptions of the latter two impressions have been located, it remains uncertain whether they belong to the first edition or the second edition line of descent. A complete listing of impressions follows:

Methuen Editions and Impressions of Under Western Eyes.[11]

                                             

I. First Edition
	Name	Ordered	Delivered	Date Published
1. First impression	1st	3,000	3,001	5 October 1911
2. Second impression	2nd	1,500	1,506	October 1911
3. Third impression	3rd	1,000	1,013	July 1915
4. Fourth impression	6th[*]	1,000	n.a.	1920
5. Fifth impression	14th[**]	n.a.	n.a.	1929
6. Sixth impression	15th	1,000	1,008	November 1929
II. Second Edition
1. First impression	4th	15,000	15,010	18 October 1917
2. Second impression	5th	5,000	4,888	April 1920
3. Third impression	6th[*]	1,000	n.a.	12 October 1922
4. Fourth impression	7th	n.a.	n.a.	February 1923
5. Fifth impression	8th	5,000	5,047	May 1924[***]
6. Sixth impression	9th	n.a.	n.a.	September 1924
7. Seventh impression	11th	3,000	3,097	August 1926
8. Eighth impression	12th	2,637	2,096	December 1926
9. Ninth impression	16th	2,500	2,525	July 1943
10. Tenth impression	17th	2,000	2,000	March 1946
11. Eleventh impression	n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	1948
III. Impressions Not Yet Identified
1. "Tenth Edition"				January 1925
2. "Thirteenth Edition"				February 1929

The Cheap Edition of 1917, printed by Butler and Tanner, was the edition in which Under Western Eyes reached a fairly large audience, and, because the edition was most carelessly proofed, it perniciously subverts the text

in a number of ways. The second edition differs from the first in 255 instances (53 substantives and 202 accidentals).[12] One need only glance at some of the typographical errors to wonder how the reader kept the identities of Razumov and Ivanovitch straight since they appear variously as "Rauzumov" (140.15), "Ruzamov" (159.28), and "Ivanovich" (180.33, 234.33), and such peculiar words as "busk" (16.27), "hrown" (16.28), "Geneal" (63.3), "Russiar" (184.40), "retierd" (185.17), "peopls" (186.30), and "Prnice" (260.16) appear where "dusk," "brown," "General," "Russian," "retired," "people," and "Prince" should be. Admittedly, the edition does correct "preresent" (53.18 to "represent"), as well as the two errors, mentioned earlier; however, many of its errors perversely "make sense" and often reverse Conrad's intended meaning.

Though it is fairly evident to a reader that "you presence" (78.35), "colouring slight" (91.1), "her fate husband" (138.34), and "for five minutes of more" (286.27) are misprints for "your presence," "colouring slightly," "her late husband," and "for five minutes or more," one must always approach assumed misprints with caution. Since 1938, readers of Graham Greene's Brighton Rock have probably been silently "correcting" the detective's remark "'You're a wide boy'" to "'You're a wise boy'" without realizing that "wide" is underworld slang for "those who live by their wits, especially gamblers, petty swindlers, race-gangsters, the lesser 'con men', dishonest motor-car salesmen, and the like."[13] Equally troubling and ambiguous are those misprints which silently distort what the author wrote. For example, describing the attitude, stride, and demeanor of the red-nosed student, Conrad wrote "He stalked deliberately at Razumov's elbow" (M70.16), but in the Cheap Edition, he "talked deliberately" (64.31). In the first edition, Natalia Haldin tells the narrator of her troubles with her mother, concluding "'I am more uneasy than ever'" (M174.31); the Cheap Edition has her saying she is "more easy than ever" (151.15)—exactly the reverse. Similarly, the Cheap Edition prints "Miss" (268.11) instead of "Mrs." (M313.31)—a seemingly minor error, but one which assigns a significant evaluation by the narrator to the wrong character—and "foreseen" (287.7) for "unforeseen" (M337.6), making the perceived connection between Natalia and her brother rather puzzling. Elsewhere, the Cheap Edition prints "put new heart in the man" (108.28-29), "the loss" (268.32), and "sceptical ghost" (305.23) instead of "put heart in the new man" (M122.32-33),

"the cost" (M314.19), and "sceptical guest" (M359.21). The first greatly weakens the image of Peter Ivanovitch's transformation from a near beast back into a "new man." The second ruins the metaphor of being wounded and counting "the cost," and the third momentarily seems to further the imagery of the supernatural which permeates the novel; however, Razumov is an all too physical guest.

The Cheap Edition also omits a number of words and phrases, probably due to compositors' eyeskips. For example, "inspiration. It is a great privilege to have the inspiration and the opportunity" (M154.25-26) becomes "inspiration and the opportunity" (134.28-29), and "almost of the disciple of" (M159.1) becomes "almost of" (138.22). Sometimes, words such as "tawny" in "naked tawny figure" (M120.14/106.24) simply disappear from the text.

When one turns to the accidental variants, one finds much the same story: 79 of the 202 variants are simple setting errors such as misspellings, use of a comma instead of a period, omission of closing punctuation, whereas others involve regularization of -ize words (4 times) and any one (15 times), preference of variant spellings (8 times), addition of commas (5 times), and deletion of commas (38 times), even though the text does correct twelve printing errors from the first edition.

On 2 January 1942, Methuen melted down the stereotyped plates, probably of the first edition, though there is a possibility that the second edition plates were also melted down as part of the war effort, and on 4 March 1943, the blocks were destroyed.[14] Moulds surely had been made or "mother plates" retained, because there were later impressions ordered 7 July 1943, 6 March 1946, and sometime in 1948.

Thus, during the thirty or so years following the publication of Under Western Eyes, Conrad's readers had their choice of any of four editions of the novel in Great Britain: the Methuen first, the Methuen second, the Heinemann Collected, or the Dent which was printed from plates of the American Sun-Dial Edition. Conrad met these readers, moreover, not in the precisely cut style and neatly punctuated sentences he wished, but in a rather tattered, shop-worn cheap text. It was cheap, and it often looked it. Had publication rights not finally passed to J. M. Dent, the text of the second edition might still be on sale in its various guises.