Joyce, James

Ulysses. Paris: Shakespeare and Co., 1922



4to (9 x 1/4 x 7 1/4 ins; 238 x 186 mm). Publisher's white-titled blue wrappers bound in; small light stain to upper wrapper.  Contemporary blue morocco gilt; old minor repairs with some color retouching to spine. Later half morocco clamshell case; spine fading.

 Slocum & Cahoon A17

Copy 264 of 750, Presentation from Joyce to Sydney Schiff, the literary socialite who introduced Joyce to Proust at a remarkable Paris dinner for Stravinsky.  "To | Sydney Schiff | James Joyce | Paris | 8 April 1922."

"Our talk consisted solely of the word 'no.'"  English socialites in Paris, Syndey and Violet Schiff were  enthusiastically on the scene, forming a variety of unexpected relationships with and between many of the major Modernist figures.  Patrons of Wyndham Lewis and Osbert Sitwell, the couple became very friendly with T.S. Eliot, his wife Vivienne and Aldous Huxley. Though a published novelist (under the pseudonym "Stephen Hudson"), Schiff's chief contribution to the arts was as a host. He and Violet worked tirelessly to facilitate introductions.

The Schiffs' epic dinner in a private room at the Majestic on 18 May 1922 has passed into myth (not least of all because no definitive record of all in attendance apparently exists). Taking the occasion of the premiere of Stravinsky's ballet "Le Renard" as performed by Diaghilev's Ballets Russe, the Schiffs cast a wide a net for the evening's dinner  and came away with a guest list possible only in the Paris of the 20s. The Schiff's landed not only Stravinsky and Diaghilev, but Picasso, Nijinsky, Clive Bell, Princesse Edmond de Polignac, and Erik Satie. But wihtout a doubt the two most coveted guests were the reclusive Proust and James Joyce, the latter still celebrating the newly published Ulysses.

Joyce arrived late, under-dressed, and obviously drunk, as the diners were drinking coffee and proceeded to nod off, snoring at the table. Proust, fortified by drinking a dose of pure adrenalin (burning his throat in the process) was apparently trying to overcome the same hypochrondria and social anxiety that Joyce was quelling with drink, with predictable results. He arrived at 2:30 a.m. dressed in black with white kid gloves, nervous and sickly.

Accounts of exactly what passed between Joyce and Proust differ, but the conversation revolved around their various ailments (Joyce's eyes, Proust's stomach) and a series of queries from one to another regarding whether the other knew a particular street or duchess (to which each answered no).  Of course neither had read the other's work.

When the evening broke up, Joyce fell into a taxi with Proust and  lit a cigarette, deeply disturbing the asthmatic Frenchman. Proust had the driver take Joyce home rather than try to furher their conversation, an end sadly reflected on by a sober Joyce years later. He remarked, "If we had been allowed to meet and have a talk somewhere..." But of course the Schiffs' party was the only opportunity. Proust was dead six months later. (See Richard Ellman's James Joyce and Richard Davenport-Hine's Proust A Night at the Majestic for a fuller account of this extraordinary evening).

The first printing of Ulysses consisted of 1,000 copies published in 3 issues on differerent handmade paper stocks, numbered 1-100, 101-250 and 251-1,000. While 2 copies were available on the day of publication, 2 February 1922 (Joyce's birthday), problems with the cover meant that it wasn't until 9 February that more copies arrived for Sylvia Beach to distribute. All of these were from the issue of 750 copies. The 1/100 series was ready 13 February and 1/150 not until March 4. This sequence of printing places a priority on the issue of 750 above others. (see Laura Barnes's research in Glenn Horowitz Bookseller's catalogue James Joyce: Books and Manuscripts. New York, 1996.)

With Schiff's 14 February 1922 inscription neatly pencilled on the half-title. According to Sylvia Beach's notebook, Schiff received this copy on 10 February, a day after she received the first copies of the novel from the printer. A mere two copies (numbers 254 and 255) are recorded as being distributed on the 9th, thus Schiff's copy 264 was certainly among the earliest of any Ulysses issued, as the production and distribution of the 1/750 precedes that of both the issues of 150 and 100.