Joyce, James
Ulysses
New York: Random House, 1934. First American edition. 768 pages. Octavo.
This great modernist novel was first published in Paris in 1922, but it was declared obscene in the United States, although the copies of the Paris edition slipped through customs and bootleg editions circulated in literary circles, despite the ban. On December 6, 1933, Judge John M. Woolsey issued a ruling allowing the sale of Ulysses, declaring the book to be "a sincere and serious attempt to devise a new literary method for the observation and description of mankind." As soon as the Woolsey decision was published, Random House pushed its long-planned edition of Ulysses into production.
At the beginning of the book, the publisher appended a short foreword by the attorney who successfully argued the obscenity case, Judge Woolsey's landmark decision easing censorship rules in the U.S. (the Ulysses precedent would apply to other literary works), and a letter from Joyce explaining his difficulties finding a publisher for his novel. These useful historic preliminaries have been dropped from modern editions of Ulysses. A fine copy rebound in three-quarter morocco and marbled paper-covered boards, with a spine in six compartments stamped and decorated in gold.
$800
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