[Literature] [Matisse, Henry] Joyce, James. Ulysses

New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1935. Limited edition, #350/1,500 numbered copies signed by Henri Matisse. 4to. Illustrated with six etchings and 20 reproductions of preliminary drawings on colored paper by Matisse. Publisher's brown cloth, decorated in gilt; in original glassine, spine perished, closed tears and losses along edges; top edge speckled red, other edges untrimmed; in publisher's slip case. The American Livre de Peintre 32; The Artist and the Book 197; Slocum and Calhoun, A22.

A near-fine copy of one of the most important works by Irish author James Joyce. Ulysses was first published in Paris by Shakespeare & Co. in 1922 and, from there, spent over a decade fending off legal challenges for perceived obscenity, before finally seeing publication in the United States, in 1934. The following year, George Macy, founder and publisher of the Limited Editions Club, paid French artist Henri Matisse $5,000 to create the illustrations for Macy's edition. Matisse famously created illustrations based on Homer's epic poem The Odyssey, claiming that he had not read Joyce's book. Though it is reported that Joyce was so angry at this perceived snub that he refused to sign more than 250 copies, the contract Joyce initially signed with Macy allowed only 250 copies to be signed by both him and Matisse, owing to Joyce's failing eyesight.

This lot is located in Philadelphia.

[Literature] [Matisse, Henry] Joyce, James. Ulysses