Today I've decided that Joyce's Ulysses, hailed by scholarly critics as the most important literary work of the 20th century, has escaped my library long enough.
A friend generously presented me with a copy of Ulysses in Hand: The Rosenbach Manuscript published by The Rosenbach Museum and Library. The book compiles excerpts from Joyce's original handwritten manuscripts for the novel and served as my primary introduction to Ulysses.
Kevin Birmingham published a contextual examination of the text titled, The Most Dangerous Book which explores Joyce's Federal Obscenity Trial and the banning and burning of Ulysses in the US and in England.
Anthony Burgess described the book as "inimitable, and mad," and Joyce once said that he had "put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant."
What better book for an analytical fetishist like myself?
I've just purchased a fine leather bound Franklin Library first edition. Bound in russet cloth with leatherette spine. Gilt titles and decorations. Decorative epps, ribbon marker. All edges gilt; faux marbled endpapers; Illustrated by Kenneth Frances Dewey. Fine condition - a display copy from a smoke free home published in 1979.
Special thanks to my good friend for the inspiration!
