[Literature] Joyce, James. Ulysses

Paris: Shakespeare and Company, 1922. First and limited edition, #701/750 numbered copies on handmade paper (from a total edition of 1,000). 4to. Publisher's limp blue wrappers, lettered in white, wear to extremities and spine; ownership signature of American journalist, editor, and literary critic, Burton Rascoe (1892-1957) on front free endpaper; in quarter morocco fall-down-back box. Slocum & Cahoon A17; Connolly, The Modern Movement 42

Unsophisticated rare first edition of James Joyce's masterpiece, one of the most important works of modern literature.

This first edition was published on February 2, 1922, by Sylvia Beach, an American expatriate and the owner of the Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris. Due to its controversial content, which led to obscenity trials and bans in various countries, Joyce faced significant difficulties in finding a publisher. Beach took the courageous step to publish the book herself, ensuring its availability to the public. Beach commissioned printer Maurice Darantiere in Dijon to print 1,000 numbered copies consisting of 100 signed copies on Dutch handmade paper, 150 numbered copies on vergé d'Arches paper, and 750 copies on handmade paper, plus an extra 20 unnumbered copies on mixed paper for libraries and press. Tasked with typesetting Joyce's ever-changing text, Darantiere also faced challenges related to the cover. Joyce insisted that the cover must resemble the colours of the Greek flag, blue and white, an allusion to the book's connection to Homer's Odyssey and the Greek literary tradition. Despite Darantiere's efforts with various blue papers, none met Joyces exacting standards. With less than a month until publication, Joyce sent the small Greek flag from Shakespeare and Company to artist Myron C. Nutting, who identified the correct pigment. Darantiere then lithographed the "Greek-flag blue" onto white paper, creating the distinctive blue cover of this first edition.

[Literature] Joyce, James. Ulysses