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Ulysses
by Joyce, James
- Used
- near fine
- Signed
- Condition
- Near Fine
- Seller
-
Portland, Oregon, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: John Lane the Bodley Head, 1937. First Edition Thus. Near Fine. An exceedingly scarce presentation copy of the first English edition printed in England, limited issue signed by James Joyce. One of 100 copies (from a total edition of 1000 copies, this copy unnumbered) printed on mould-made paper and bound in full calf vellum. This copy was reserved for presentation by the author, unnumbered at the colophon with the words "Presentation Copy" inscribed in calligraphy below the limitation. The only other copy of this edition of 100 that we could locate that bears the presentation inscription (this copy also unnumbered) was from Joyce's private library now housed in the Poetry Collection at the University at Buffalo. They also hold two other copies of the Bodley Head Ulysses (1/900) that also bear the words "Presentation Copy" on the edition statement: one having been owned by Joyce and the other by Sylvia Beach.
Bound in publisher's original full calf vellum with gilt Homeric bows designed by Eric Gill on the upper and lower cover and titles in gilt on spine, top edge gilt. Housed in publisher's original patterned slipcase, which is also correctly sans number matching the presentation copy's blank.
Near Fine with light discoloration and light rubbing to the vellum, spine slightly darkened and with light mottled foxing, foxing to textblock extremities. Slipcase is rubbed and a little worn, with several small stains; Foxing to interior of slipcase. Publisher's prospectus laid in.
Synopsis
Ulysses is a modernist novel by James Joyce. It was first serialized in The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920 and later published by Shakespeare and Company in 1922. Originally, Joyce conceived of Ulysses as a short story to be included in Dubliners , but decided instead to publish it as a long novel, situated as a sort of sequel to A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man , picking up Stephen Dedalus’s life over a year later. Ulysses takes place on a single day, June 16, 1904, in Dublin - now celebrated as Bloomsday annually. Within the massive text of 265,000 words (not so “short” anymore, eh?), divided into 18 episodes, Joyce radically shifts narrative style with each new episode, completely abandoning the previously accepted notions of plot, setting, and characters. The presentation of a fragmented reality through interior perception in Ulysses , often through stream-of-consciousness, is one of many reasons it is considered a paramount in Modernist literature. Ulysses presents a series of parallels with Homer’s epic poem Odyssey (Ulysses is the Latinized name of Odysseus.) Not only can correspondences be drawn between the main characters of each text — Stephen Dedalus to Telemachus, Leopold Bloom to Odysseus, and Molly Bloom to Penelope, but each of the 18 episodes of Ulysses reflects an adventure from the Odyssey. In 1998, the American publishing firm Modern Library ranked Ulysses first on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. February 2022 will mark the centennial of the publishing of Ulysses , with auctions, sales, and celebrations by Joyce fans scheduled around the globe. From our Book Collecting Guide: Collecting Ulysses https://www.biblio.com/book-collecting/basics/collecting-one-book/collecting-ulysses-by-james-joyce/
Read More: Identifying first editions of Ulysses
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Details
- Bookseller
- Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 140945626
- Title
- Ulysses
- Author
- Joyce, James
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition Thus
- Publisher
- John Lane the Bodley Head
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1937
- Bookseller catalogs
- Literature;
Terms of Sale
Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
Biblio member since 2010
Portland, Oregon
About Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
Burnside Rare Books specializes in literary first editions and works of cultural and historic significance. We are located in Portland, Oregon and welcome visitors by appointment.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Vellum
- Vellum is a sheet of specialty prepared skin of lamb, calf, or goat kid used for binding a book or for printing and writing. ...
- Calf
- Calf or calf hide is a common form of leather binding. Calf binding is naturally a light brown but there are ways to treat the...
- Inscribed
- When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Top Edge Gilt
- Top edge gilt refers to the practice of applying gold or a gold-like finish to the top of the text block (the edges the pages...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Colophon
- The colophon contains information about a book's publisher, the typesetting, printer, and possibly even includes a printer's...
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