ULYSSES, WITH EXTREMELY RARE INSCRIPTION BY JAMES JOYCE

JOYCE, James. Ulysses. Paris: Shakespeare and Company, 1924. Square octavo, contemporary full maroon cloth, black morocco spine label, marbled endpapers; original paper wrappers bound in. Housed in custom slipcase. $25,000.

Fourth Shakespeare and Company printing of Ulysses, issued just two years after the first, inscribed on the front flyleaf, “To A.K. Griggs, James Joyce, Paris 16.vi.934.” With original wrappers bound in. Any copies of Ulysses inscribed by Joyce are extremely rare.

"Universally hailed as the most influential work of modern times" (Grolier Joyce 69). After working for seven years on Ulysses, Joyce, desperate to find a publisher, turned to Sylvia Beach of Shakespeare and Company in Paris. "Within a month of the publication, the first printing of Ulysses was practically sold out, and within a year Joyce had become a well-known literary figure. Ulysses was explosive in its impact on the literary world of 1922… Then began the great game of smuggling the edition into countries where it was forbidden, especially England and the United States. The contraband article was transported across the seas and national borders in all sorts of cunning ways…" (de Grazia, 27). "Universally hailed as the most influential work of modern times" (Grolier Joyce 69). After working for seven years on Ulysses, Joyce, desperate to find a publisher, turned to Sylvia Beach of Shakespeare and Company in Paris. "Within a month of the publication, the first printing of Ulysses was practically sold out, and within a year Joyce had become a well-known literary figure. Ulysses was explosive in its impact on the literary world of 1922… Then began the great game of smuggling the edition into countries where it was forbidden, especially England and the United States. The contraband article was transported across the seas and national borders in all sorts of cunning ways…" (de Grazia, 27). "The fourth, fifth and sixth printings were issued in white covers with the title and author printed in blue… The fourth and fifth were printed on a thick paper of inferior quality" (Slocum A17). Recipient Arthur Kingsland Griggs edited and translated several works, including Léon Daudet's Memoirs, and also wrote the popular guidebook Paris for Everyman. Original wrappers bound in.

Light embrowning and minor chipping (largely confined to the first few leaves) to fragile text, as usual. Moderate marginal stain to page 33, touching still easily legible text. Minor restoration to inner paper hinge at front flyleaf, barely affecting the "P" of "Paris" in Joyce's inscription. Copies of Ulysses inscribed by Joyce are extraordinarily rare. A handsome copy, most scarce and desirable inscribed.