in 
The absence of the 
hairpin in the editions does not seem to be accidental. The engraver of GE1 most probably wanted to make his job easier by eliminating superfluous marks, doubling the verbal indication, according to him. Further on, over the course of the Variations, such combinations of cresc. or dim. with a or a 
hairpin, very often used by Chopin in this and other compositions, were generally simplified in this way – cf. b. 119, 274, 301, 306, 335. On the other hand, in b. 295 the hairpin was left, but the verbal indication was omitted (cresc.).
The range of the mark in A is unclear, since the bottom arm is evidently shorter than the top one. In this case, we decide to the advantage of the top, longer arm, which was probably written first.
Compare the passage in the sources »
category imprint: Differences between sources
issues: Scope of dynamic hairpins, GE revisions
notation: Articulation, Accents, Hairpins