JOYCE, James. Ulysses. Illustrated by Henri Matisse. [AN ESSENTIAL AND LUXURIOUS COLLECTOR’S EDITION]

Norwalk, Connecticut: The Easton Press, 1999. Quarto. pp. v, 732. Full blue/green morocco elaborately tooled in gilt; moiré-silk endpapers, cream and green endbands, gold silk marker. All edges gilt. A fine copy.

In a 1920 letter Joyce gives some idea of what he’s attempting in ‘Ulysses’. It is an epic “of the human
body as well as the little story of a day (life). The character of Ulysses has fascinated me since
boyhood. I started writing a short story for ‘Dubliners’ fifteen years ago but gave it up. For seven years
I’ve been working at this book - blast it! It is also a sort of encyclopaedia. My intention is not only to
render the myth [of Odysseus-Ulysses] sub specie temporis nostri [from the standpoint of our age], but
also to allow each adventure (that is, every hour, every organ, every art being connected and
interrelated in the somatic scheme of the whole) to condition and even to create its own techniques”.
This edition of the most important novel of the 20th century will be an essential and luxurious addition
to your library.