An Outcast of the Islands - Joseph Conrad 1896 - T. Fisher Unwin, London - First Edition, first issue A fine first edition, first issue of Conrad's second novel. Rare in such fine condition, bright gilt to spine, without foxing to page edges, water marks to cloth or restoration.

“A tale of intrigue set on the Island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Peter Willems, a clerk in Macassar, granted a "second chance" at a remote river trading post, falls ever more hopelessly into traps set by himself and others. A parable of human frailty, with love and death the major players, this is a story of a man unable to understand others and fated never to possess his own soul.

I know the white man...in many lands have I seen them, always the slaves of their desires ...”
  First edition, first issue with all misprints present: “this” for “their” on line 31, p.26; “absolution” for “ablution” p.110, line 12; “9” omitted from the page number on p. 129, and “hate” for “fate” on p. 356, line 26.

An Outcast of the Islands’ was published on or about 4 March 1896. The publisher Unwin is reported to have said that 1,000 copies were printed for the domestic market and 250 for the Colonial issue. However, in the light of the absence of Unwin's files, and the fact that ‘Almayer's Folly‘ had gone through two printings in its first year, it is quite possible that the print run was slightly higher (Cagle, p.11).

Reference: Wise,
A Conrad Bibliography, 2. Cagle, Bibliography of Joseph Conrad, A2a(1).

Octavo (book size 20.7x14cm), pp. [8] 391 [1]. Publisher’s dark green vertically ribbed cloth, spine lettered and framed in gilt, top edge gilt, others uncut
  Condition: Fine with the exception of cracked rear inner hinge, and several over opened gatherings.   Ref: 110663   Price: HK$ 14,800