Chance: A Tale in Two Parts

Genuine first-issue copies carry an eight-page publisher's catalogue dated 'Autumn 1913' and are bound in green cloth lettered in gilt with 'METHUEN' at the foot of the spine (Binding A); the Conrad works list shows closing quotation marks around 'Narcissus.' TRAP: Methuen later recalled the fourth impression and tipped in fresh 1913-dated title leaves to satisfy collectors, so a 1913 title page ALONE does not prove first issue — the Autumn 1913 catalogue, the cancel stub, and the title-page type spacing are the deciding points (Supino records states A–H of the first published state)