Ulysses: A Facsimile of the Manuscript. 1975

Joyce, James.
Ulysses: A Facsimile of the Manuscript.
New York: Octagon Books, 1975. 3 Volumes.
Call Number: (RARE) PR 6019 .O9 U4 1975 c.2
Special Collections, Golda Meir Library

Joyce's own proofreading practices caused much of the confusion surrounding the text. He gave the handwritten manuscripts to various non-professional typists, who produced typed manuscripts with two carbons, each intended for a different individual. Joyce would then continue to revise one manuscript copy while allowing the others to circulate: editing one manuscript and forwarding it to a publisher, then continuing to edit, revise and correct from memory on another copy. Joyce's deteriorating eyesight compounded the difficulties. After the publication of the first edition, Joyce abandoned revision, refusing to make further corrections or to reconcile the various versions of Ulysses.

Limited to an edition of 1775 copies, this critical work addresses the textual discrepancies between the written manuscript held at the Rosenbach Foundation of Philadelphia and the Shakespeare and Company first edition. Volume three, entitled Ulysses: The Manuscript and First Printings Compared, is a facsimile of the first edition with handwritten annotations by Clive Driver. Because the first edition was reworked from an early working typescript, there is huge disparity between these and other existing versions of Ulysses.