Joyce's Masterpiece in Print - Ulysses: A Century Later

 

James Joyce's Ulysses
Shakespeare and Co., Paris.
Special Collections, University of Galway Library

As Leopold Bloom began his odyssey around Dublin with the publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses, on 2^nd February 1922, so too began the story of the one of the most famous novels in all of English literature. Ulysses has captivated and confounded readers for a century since it was first published by Sylvia Beach in Paris and at her Shakespeare and Company bookshop. Within Special Collections of University of Galway Library is a rare fourth printing of the novel.

Sylvia Beach’s first printing of the novel in February 1922 ran to 1,000 numbered copies. The second printing by Egoist Press took place in London in October 1922 and ran to 2,000 numbered copies, with 500 of those famously burned by U.S. Post Office authorities. Egoist Press ran a third printing of the book with a further 500 copies in January 1923, with all but one sole copy of these being seized by Customs.

Printing run and previous editions. 
4th Printing

This fourth printing returns the story of Ulysses back to where it began, in Paris, and at Shakespeare and Company. The edition still contains the original packing slip from Beach’s shop, advertising it as a “Bookshop and Lending Library – Modern English and American Literature”. It was priced at 60 francs. At the end of the novel is a list of “Additional Corrections” with changes and edits made to the text. It was printed in Paris in January 1924, just before the book’s second anniversary.

Original packing slip from Shakespeare and Company bookshop, Paris, run by Sylvia Beach.

The book’s impact on reading, readership, language, and literature is unquantifiable. The edition is in excellent condition and a reminder of the power of words and reading to bring readers together to celebrate a novel a century after it was first published. 

Front Cover, Ulysses, 4th printing, University of Galway Library

Celebrating all things Joyce this Bloomsday

Front cover of 'Pomes Penyeach'

To celebrate this Bloomsday, we are looking beyond Ulysses and to some other Joycean treasures present in the collections of the Hardiman Library. One such item is an original, autographed edition of a collection of poems written by James Joyce entitled Pomes Penyeach. The volume also features intricate and ornate illustrations by James' daughter, Lucia Joyce. The volume, which contains the Galway-themed poem, She Weeps Over Rahoon, was donated to the Hardiman Library by Joyce himself in 1935.

 The book was published by Obelisk Press, which was run by Jack Kahane, an admirer of Joyce’s work, and by Desmond Harmsworth. Editions of the book were signed by James Joyce and offered for sale at £12. Joyce sent copies to other authors and contacts in the publishing world and his letter notes that the book was deposited in the British Museum Library and the Bibliothèque Nationale.

Joyce personally sent a copy of Pomes Penyeach to the Hardiman Library of NUI Galway and a manuscript letter by Joyce sent to Prof. John Howley, University Librarian, was written in August 1935, accompanied the book.

In the letter Joyce indicates that his uncle-in-law, Michael Healy, had requested him to send a copy of the special edition of Pomes Penyeach to the Library. Joyce states that he was doing so not only because the illustrator was a “grand-daughter of Galway” and the bearer of one of the ancient tribal names but also as a token of appreciation of the support he had received over the years from Michael Healy himself.

Manuscript inscription byJames Joyce, limited edition of 'Pomes Penyeach'

The book is a beautiful reminder of the connection of Joyce to the City of Galway in his personal life through his relationship with Nora Barnacle and also in literary means, through She Weeps Over Rahoon and also as through numerous scenes and references in Joyce's masterful short story, the Dead.

Happy Bloomsday!