The Library of Congress' unique copy of James Joyce's "Ulysses"
February 16, 2025 2:02 PM Subscribe
The first edition of Ulysses was 1,000 copies. The first 100 were printed on Holland paper and signed by the author. The next 150 were printed on vergé d'Arches paper. But Copy #361 is special.
This is a great link, and very interesting, but:
including Joyce’s notation that the book was based on “The Odyssey,” without which the world might never have noticed the connection.
Ulysses. the book is called Ulysses.
I think people would have picked it up eventually.
posted by Sebmojo at 2:40 PM on February 16 [48 favorites]
including Joyce’s notation that the book was based on “The Odyssey,” without which the world might never have noticed the connection.
Ulysses. the book is called Ulysses.
I think people would have picked it up eventually.
posted by Sebmojo at 2:40 PM on February 16 [48 favorites]
I've tried to read Ulysses 3 or 4 times.
Never get that far into it to see how it is Ulysses.
I did totally get how "O Brother Where Art Thou" was also Ulysses. Also, more fun.
Still, if the Smithsonian would like to send me their copy, I would totally read it and take care of it. Very cool.
posted by Windopaene at 2:50 PM on February 16 [5 favorites]
Never get that far into it to see how it is Ulysses.
I did totally get how "O Brother Where Art Thou" was also Ulysses. Also, more fun.
Still, if the Smithsonian would like to send me their copy, I would totally read it and take care of it. Very cool.
posted by Windopaene at 2:50 PM on February 16 [5 favorites]
ulysses is a lot, but it isn't that hard.
i wonder if people sort of conflate it in their heads with finnegan's wake which is pure bonkers gibberish by comparison (though that said i only know it by reputation... looking at it now it's kind of fun and you can get the gist of what he's saying, you just skim and enjoy the linguistic play)
posted by Sebmojo at 3:25 PM on February 16 [10 favorites]
i wonder if people sort of conflate it in their heads with finnegan's wake which is pure bonkers gibberish by comparison (though that said i only know it by reputation... looking at it now it's kind of fun and you can get the gist of what he's saying, you just skim and enjoy the linguistic play)
posted by Sebmojo at 3:25 PM on February 16 [10 favorites]
Updike made the memorable analogy that Ulysses was like a craggy, daunting mountain peak, while Finnegans Wake [no apostrophe, please] lays beyond it as a mist-enshrouded wildness from which no returns with their sanity.
posted by Lemkin at 3:29 PM on February 16 [11 favorites]
posted by Lemkin at 3:29 PM on February 16 [11 favorites]
June 16, 1904, Dublin, Ireland.
Not much happened today.
posted by Marky at 3:47 PM on February 16 [5 favorites]
Not much happened today.
posted by Marky at 3:47 PM on February 16 [5 favorites]
Ulysses is entirely readable. Finnegans Wake is great for bibliomancy!
posted by supermedusa at 4:16 PM on February 16 [5 favorites]
posted by supermedusa at 4:16 PM on February 16 [5 favorites]
I enjoyed reading this post very much - always fascinating to learn how specific details / inclusions elevate the "value" of rare books. One of my favorite window shopping experiences arrives in my inbox as the Manhattan Rare Book Company's new arrival's email
Routinely chock full of fascinating editions and backstories.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 4:23 PM on February 16 [6 favorites]
Routinely chock full of fascinating editions and backstories.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 4:23 PM on February 16 [6 favorites]
I have nothing against Ulysses.
The prose was kind of dense, and nothing seemed to be happening. Which I guess was kind of the point? To get the "day in the life" vibe going. But never cared enough about what ever it was, to keep pushing through. Maybe I will try again and I will see its charms. Maybe not.
I always confuse Finnegan's Wake with Gravity's Rainbow, which I have also never read. Two word titles with apostrophes...
Who was the guy that everyone thought was awesome and then turned out to be kind of shitty? Three name I think? Can't remember...
EDIT: Not Orsen Scott Card.
More highbrow
posted by Windopaene at 5:11 PM on February 16
The prose was kind of dense, and nothing seemed to be happening. Which I guess was kind of the point? To get the "day in the life" vibe going. But never cared enough about what ever it was, to keep pushing through. Maybe I will try again and I will see its charms. Maybe not.
I always confuse Finnegan's Wake with Gravity's Rainbow, which I have also never read. Two word titles with apostrophes...
Who was the guy that everyone thought was awesome and then turned out to be kind of shitty? Three name I think? Can't remember...
EDIT: Not Orsen Scott Card.
More highbrow
posted by Windopaene at 5:11 PM on February 16
David Foster Wallace
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:13 PM on February 16 [4 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:13 PM on February 16 [4 favorites]
Why #361?
I could not figure that out from the article, but then again my ad blocker made hash of the website.
posted by keep_evolving at 5:56 PM on February 16
I could not figure that out from the article, but then again my ad blocker made hash of the website.
posted by keep_evolving at 5:56 PM on February 16
#361 means it was the 361st copy in that print run of a 1000. That one got a special cover and inserts.
Given that every time Mr Joyce pops up here, you get a round of Huh?s as well as a round of Wow!s in response to his works. Where in MetaFilter land would be a place to have a discussion about how to read his books and answer questions for those Huh?s who might want to become WOW!s?
posted by njohnson23 at 6:13 PM on February 16 [3 favorites]
Given that every time Mr Joyce pops up here, you get a round of Huh?s as well as a round of Wow!s in response to his works. Where in MetaFilter land would be a place to have a discussion about how to read his books and answer questions for those Huh?s who might want to become WOW!s?
posted by njohnson23 at 6:13 PM on February 16 [3 favorites]
David Foster Wallace
Though in certain celebratory circles coulda been Bret Easton Ellis
posted by thecincinnatikid at 6:18 PM on February 16 [2 favorites]
Though in certain celebratory circles coulda been Bret Easton Ellis
posted by thecincinnatikid at 6:18 PM on February 16 [2 favorites]
Aw fuck no.
Read parts of American Psycho.
Intrusive thoughts. Fuck that horrible shit.
posted by Windopaene at 6:27 PM on February 16 [1 favorite]
Read parts of American Psycho.
Intrusive thoughts. Fuck that horrible shit.
posted by Windopaene at 6:27 PM on February 16 [1 favorite]
I, for one, was wondering why #361 of the book run was singled out for special treatment, assuming the choice wasn’t arbitrary.
posted by Whale Oil at 6:32 PM on February 16 [2 favorites]
posted by Whale Oil at 6:32 PM on February 16 [2 favorites]
"It’s entirely possible to fit all 265,222 words from James Joyce’s Ulysses on a poster and still be able to read them."
posted by BWA at 7:25 PM on February 16 [3 favorites]
posted by BWA at 7:25 PM on February 16 [3 favorites]
I assumed it was arbitrary modding up #361. I assume it was taken off the top of the pile or it was the copy that could be purchased locally when it was decided to mod the book. But, I have never read the book so maybe there is something within the book that made modifying #361 the best choice.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 1:39 AM on February 17 [1 favorite]
posted by JohnnyGunn at 1:39 AM on February 17 [1 favorite]
Last year, the day before Bloomsday, we went to visit Marsh's Library in Dublin. To honour the week that's in it, they had the visitor's book open for October 1902:
"23 Jas Joyce 7 S Peter's Terrace, Cabra"
Joyce wrote a number of letters from that address to his Mum, Lady Gregory, Nora Barnacle . . .
If you want support reading the book Ulysses80 has your back. Last year they read the whole thing in 80 days, likely they'll give it another riffle in 2025.
posted by BobTheScientist at 2:31 AM on February 17 [3 favorites]
"23 Jas Joyce 7 S Peter's Terrace, Cabra"
Joyce wrote a number of letters from that address to his Mum, Lady Gregory, Nora Barnacle . . .
If you want support reading the book Ulysses80 has your back. Last year they read the whole thing in 80 days, likely they'll give it another riffle in 2025.
posted by BobTheScientist at 2:31 AM on February 17 [3 favorites]
I think I may like this book slightly less* knowing that there's a decoder ring for the symbolism that he sneaked in to copies for his friends.
* previously having had no opinion whatsoever except that it gives some people some enjoyment, and that's a good thing.
posted by atbash at 7:09 AM on February 17 [1 favorite]
* previously having had no opinion whatsoever except that it gives some people some enjoyment, and that's a good thing.
posted by atbash at 7:09 AM on February 17 [1 favorite]
One thing these occasional Ulysees threads do is inspire me to read it again. I struggled, as most do, the first time; read it with the help of a guide the second time; read it with relish a subsequent time, and have dipped in and out several times since. Now it has been some years, but I suspect I will enjoy the experience. It truly is a journey more than a destination.
As to the article, I agree that there doesn't seem to be anything mentioned that makes 361 important, but it wouldn't be surprising to learn that it was.
posted by OHenryPacey at 7:35 AM on February 17 [4 favorites]
As to the article, I agree that there doesn't seem to be anything mentioned that makes 361 important, but it wouldn't be surprising to learn that it was.
posted by OHenryPacey at 7:35 AM on February 17 [4 favorites]
OHenryPacey, I have had the exact same experience! I love the book now, you just have to dig in...
posted by mumimor at 8:33 AM on February 17 [2 favorites]
posted by mumimor at 8:33 AM on February 17 [2 favorites]
As someone who regularly trolls used book stores for reading copies of Ulysses, I loved this. I've got my father's copy, which he purchased in the US and then smuggled back into Canada since it couldn't be bought here, and also my father-in-law's edition that he bought in Edinburgh after the war. Both of those books are getting too fragile to read anymore, so I have a few other copies that I don't need to feel so precious about.
It is a book you need to read more than once, but each time it gets more rewarding in remarkable ways. It doesn't provide any backstory for any of the characters (all of that "David Copperfield crap" as Holden Caulfield would say) but isn't that how it is with almost everyone in your life? It takes time to get to know them. But have faith: there is no more fully realized, completely human character in all of literature than Leopold Bloom, he is an absolute delight and someone you will be happy to have in your life.
And the correspondences to the Odyssey are not all that important, the events from that story provided Joyce with a useful conceit for building his story around, but that's all. Most importantly, the novel is the sequel to "A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man" and it tells the transcendent story of how James Joyce transformed from an ambitious, brilliant young man into a great artist.
posted by cadlackey at 9:23 AM on February 17 [1 favorite]
It is a book you need to read more than once, but each time it gets more rewarding in remarkable ways. It doesn't provide any backstory for any of the characters (all of that "David Copperfield crap" as Holden Caulfield would say) but isn't that how it is with almost everyone in your life? It takes time to get to know them. But have faith: there is no more fully realized, completely human character in all of literature than Leopold Bloom, he is an absolute delight and someone you will be happy to have in your life.
And the correspondences to the Odyssey are not all that important, the events from that story provided Joyce with a useful conceit for building his story around, but that's all. Most importantly, the novel is the sequel to "A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man" and it tells the transcendent story of how James Joyce transformed from an ambitious, brilliant young man into a great artist.
posted by cadlackey at 9:23 AM on February 17 [1 favorite]
361 is 19 squared. The odds of picking a perfect square out of 1000 numbers are about one in 30.
posted by Emmy Noether at 10:08 AM on February 17 [5 favorites]
posted by Emmy Noether at 10:08 AM on February 17 [5 favorites]
Ulysses by James Joyce:
- It's not a conventional novel where you turn the page to find out what happens next.
- It is a long impressionistic Prose-Poem about the thoughts and feelings of the characters.
- There is a vague plot happening in there, but it's not the point.
- Any similarity to Homer's epic saga is just a metaphoric suggestion.
- It makes more sense when listened to recited out loud: here's the excellent Irish Radio Version.
(also: Finnegan's Wake is impossible to figure out by normal standards, unless you can speak Gaelic and figure out his weird cross-linguistic puns)
posted by ovvl at 4:18 PM on February 17
- It's not a conventional novel where you turn the page to find out what happens next.
- It is a long impressionistic Prose-Poem about the thoughts and feelings of the characters.
- There is a vague plot happening in there, but it's not the point.
- Any similarity to Homer's epic saga is just a metaphoric suggestion.
- It makes more sense when listened to recited out loud: here's the excellent Irish Radio Version.
(also: Finnegan's Wake is impossible to figure out by normal standards, unless you can speak Gaelic and figure out his weird cross-linguistic puns)
posted by ovvl at 4:18 PM on February 17
> Where in MetaFilter land would be a place to have a discussion about how to read his books and answer questions for those Huh?s who might want to become WOW!s?
Joyce explained.*
posted by kliuless at 12:24 AM on February 18 [1 favorite]
Joyce explained.*
posted by kliuless at 12:24 AM on February 18 [1 favorite]
Where in MetaFilter land would be a place to have a discussion about how to read his books and answer questions for those Huh?s who might want to become WOW!s?
It's extremely rewarding to have a reference guide when reading Ulysses. I think this is the one I used to have.
posted by Text TK at 5:57 AM on February 18 [1 favorite]
It's extremely rewarding to have a reference guide when reading Ulysses. I think this is the one I used to have.
posted by Text TK at 5:57 AM on February 18 [1 favorite]
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