Chopin added the dynamic indication in this bar only at the time of preparing the Etude for print. Initially, he provided the f2 note with an accent (as in bar 2), yet eventually he chose a pair of 
hairpins. However, the signs are imprecise – the arms of the first one are of different length, while the second seems to be shortened in order to avoid a possible illegible mergence of the sign with the note in the L.H. or the semiquaver beam in the R.H. (GE reproduced it in such a way). In the main text we suggest an interpretation of the hairpins of A based on the above analysis and comparison with FE and EE.
Compare the passage in the sources »
category imprint: Differences between sources; Corrections & alterations
issues: Inaccuracies in GE, Deletions in A
notation: Articulation, Accents, Hairpins