Books

First edition, number 760 of 750 copies from the handmade paper issue numbered from 251 to 1,000. As recorded in Sylvia Beach's notebook, kept from 21 May 1921 to 1 July 1922 to account for the original customers of Ulysses, this was one of two copies purchased by the British journalist Sir Roderick Jones (1877-1962) on 10 March 1922. Jones was managing director of Reuters from 1916 to 1941; in 1920 he married the writer and playwright Enid Bagnold. The edition comprised 1,000 copies published on 2 February in the traditional three-tiered French format aimed at both connoisseurs and readers. There were 100 signed copies printed on Dutch handmade paper, 150 on the larger vergé d'Arches, and 750 on vergé à barbes forming the trade issue. The highpoint of modernist prose in English, the book also proved a major test case for laws of freedom of expression. "Forced underground by censors... this was a cryptic classic already before it was read" (Sherry, p. 1). Its creator is one of the great literary geniuses: "Joyce, not to mince words, is Ireland's Shakespeare, its Goethe, its Racine, its Tolstoy" (Sutherland). Small quarto. Original blue wrappers, front cover lettered in white. Housed in a custom blue quarter morocco slipcase with marbled sides and blue cloth chemise by the Heritage bindery (dated 1983 on chemise). Title added in manuscript on the spine. Wrappers notably bright, neat repair to the foot of the spine, short tear at the foot of the front joint, light rubbing to extremities, contents clean and largely unopened. A near-fine copy of this fragile publication. Horowitz, Census, p. 121; Slocum & Cahoon A17. Vincent Sherry, Joyce: Ulysses, 2004; John Sutherland, "Ireland's Shakespeare", The Guardian, 10 Feb. 2004.

"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.