Books

First authorized American edition, first printing, trade issue, in the first state dust jacket, with "Reichl" printed on the lower outer corner of the front panel. This edition was conceived by the typographer and graphic designer Ernst Reichl (1900-1980), a "whole book designer" who devised the look of the contents, binding, and dust jacket. The result was "a functional and dramatic design that seemed as modern as the text itself" (Drew & Sternberger, p. 3). Appraising this edition, John Updike wrote that "the title's seven letters, in elongated and squared-off form, take up the entire front surface of the book, echoing the mazelike course the characters pursue through a June day in Dublin" (Updike). Reichl thought that his edition of Ulysses was "the best known design I ever made"; his later book designs include Austin Tappan Wright's Islandia (1942), Bud Schulberg's The Disenchanted (1950), and Marshall McLuhan's The Mechanical Bride (1951). This edition was preceded in the United States by a pirated edition of the Shakespeare and Company Ulysses, published in New York for Samuel Roth in 1929 and sold illegally without Joyce's authorization. Octavo. Original cream cloth over bevelled boards, spine and front cover lettered in black and red, top edge red. With dust jacket, designed by Ernst Reichl. Housed in a red cloth flat-back solander box by the Chelsea Bindery. Cloth foxed, contents clean; jacket lightly toned, short closed tears to spine and extremities, a couple discreetly repaired, price intact: a very good copy in very good jacket. Slocum & Cahoon A21. Ned Drew and Paul Sternberger, By Its Cover: Modern American Book Cover Design, 2005; John Updike, "Deceptively Conceptual", New Yorker, 9 October 2005.

"Ulysses" is a complex and multi-layered novel that takes place over the course of a single day, June 16, 1904, in Dublin, Ireland. It follows the lives and experiences of three central characters: Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom, and Molly Bloom. Stephen Dedalus is a young aspiring writer and artist, a character partially based on Joyce himself. He struggles with his identity, his relationship with his deceased mother, and his place in the world. Leopold Bloom, a middle-aged Jewish man, is the novel's central figure. He works as an advertisement canvasser and has a deep affection for his wife, Molly. Throughout the day, Bloom encounters various events and people as he navigates Dublin. His experiences and thoughts are depicted in a stream-of-consciousness narrative style, offering insight into his musings on life, love, and his surroundings. Molly Bloom, Leopold's wife, is introduced in the final episode of the book. Her interior monologue, famously known as the "Penelope" episode, showcases her thoughts, desires, and memories, providing a different perspective on the events of the day. The novel is divided into 18 episodes, each employing a different narrative technique, style, or literary device. Joyce experiments with language, employing puns, allusions, parodies, and various linguistic styles to reflect the characters' thoughts and the vibrant atmosphere of Dublin. "Ulysses" draws heavily on Homer's "The Odyssey," with each episode mirroring an episode in the ancient epic and paralleling the adventures of Odysseus. The title itself references the Latinized name of Odysseus, and the novel explores themes of journey, identity, exile, and the human condition. Throughout the book, Joyce tackles various aspects of human experience, including politics, religion, sexuality, art, mortality, and the mundane details of everyday life. The novel is celebrated for its rich literary innovations, intricate structure, and depth of meaning, but it's also renowned for its challenging and experimental nature, which can make it a demanding read for some audiences.