Eric Gill's own copy of the book he designed
JOYCE, James. Ulysses. London: John Lane, The Bodley Head. 1936.
Tall 4to. Original green linen buckram, spine lettered in gilt, with Eric Gill's Homeric bow design stamped in gilt to front board, top edge gilt; pp. xiii, [3], 766; spine lightly sunned, as usual, some light wear to boards, otherwise an excellent copy.
Eric Gill's own copy of the edition he designed, presented to him by the publishers and inscribed in his hand: "E.G. from the publishers/ Oct.3.1936" (the date of publication); the first edition printed in England, this is one of 900 copies on Japon vellum from an edition of 1000; this copy is marked "Presentation copy" to the limitation page.
Limited to 1000 copies, in keeping with the original 1922 publication, The Bodley Head edition includes the first Joyce bibliography as well as appendices concerning the obscenity case that had kept the work from British printers until now. Eric Gill was responsible for both the design of the binding and the Homeric bow device for this lavish limited edition.
Unsurprisingly for a book with such a chequered publication history and complicated text, there are a number of typographical differences from earlier editions. Despite Joyce correcting the proofs while on holiday in Copenhagen in early 1936, a number of mistakes were later spotted, in the appendices especially. The bibliography, by Peter Pertzoff, had previously been submitted to Joyce and neither acknowledged nor returned. Pertzoff was apparently surprised to see it appear, inaccuracies and all, in this edition. Despite these anomalies and continued pressure from the censor (resulting in The Bodley Head setting up their own printing company to produce the work after their regular printers refused), the result was an artistic triumph. With typography and design overseen to the highest standard by Allen Lane and Joyce's representative Paul Léon, the commissioning of Eric Gill, the most famous typographer and book designer in the country, to design the volume is a sign of their high aspirations.
Slocum & Cahoon A23.
#2121917