Joyce, James

4to (232 x 185 mm). Number 795 from the issue of 750 copies on handmade paper, from a total edition of 1000. Short closed tear to upper margin of title, else fine.Original  blue wrappers bound in. Blue half morocco, gilt; joints rubbed. Cloth case.

 Slocum & Cahoon A17; Connolly, Modern Movement 42

first edition, signed and dated, "James Joyce Paris 26 February 1924."

The official date of publication for Ulysses was Joyce's birthday, 2 February 1922, but difficulties with the cover meant that in fact only two copies, both from the 1/750 issue, were actually ready that day. No further copies of any issue of Ulysses appeared from Darantière until 9 February (when a further batch of the 1/750 arrived), followed by the first copies of the 1/100 on 13 February, and the 1/50 series on 4 March. It is now thought that this reflects the order in which Ulysses was actually printed, giving the edition of 750 - despite its higher numerical sequence - a kind of priority over the other issues.

The single most significant English language novel of the last century, here in  particularly well-preserved condition, especially for the cheapest, though apparently first, issue.