Description:
Limited Editions Club, 1935. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. Copy #1365 of 1500 numbered copies, one of the 250 copies signed by both James Joyce and Henri Matisse. A fine copy in the original gilt-stamped brown cloth, entirely unfaded with tight hinges; in a solid and intact copy of publisher's slipcase (the book has a couple of faints spots or bruises to the deckles on foredge; the slipcase has light wear and a few marks). Illustrated with 6 original etchings and 20 photomechanical reproductions by Henri Matisse Housed in a sturdy custom brown cloth clamshell box with black leather spine stamped in gilt. One of the most storied illustrated books of the 20th century. Although the tale is often erroneously told that Matisse thought he had been hired to illustrated Homer (and did so), Alfred Barr wrote "Matisse remarked that he had observed how Joyce's Ulysses was divided into episodes based on Homer's Odyssey ... Macy accepted the suggestion and Matisse went to work." (Matisse: His Art and His…
Read More (LIMITED EDITIONS CLUB). ULYSSES by JOYCE, JAMES. HENRI MATISSE, Illustrator - 1935: Signed by both Author and Illustrator, before Joyce, in a Fit of Pique, Quit Participating
by JOYCE, JAMES. HENRI MATISSE, Illustrator
(LIMITED EDITIONS CLUB). ULYSSES: Signed by both Author and Illustrator, before Joyce, in a Fit of Pique, Quit Participating
by JOYCE, JAMES. HENRI MATISSE, Illustrator
- Used
- Signed
ONE OF 250 SPECIAL COPIES SIGNED BY BOTH JOYCE AND MATISSE.
Introduction by Stuart Gilbert.
Publisher's original brown buckram, embossed in gilt and titled on front cover and on flat spine, the decorations from a design by LeRoy H. Appleton. In the publisher's slipcase.
WITH 26 ILLUSTRATIONS BY HENRI MATISSE, depicting the Calypso, Aeolus, Cyclops, Nausicaa, Circe, and Ithaca episodes from Homer's "Odyssey."
Front pastedown with evidence of bookplate removal.
Slocum & Cahoon A-22; Quarto-Millenary 71; "The Artist and the Book" 197.
Slipcase with only the most trivial signs of wear, text with half a dozen tiny, faint marginal smudges (from the printing process), but A VERY FINE COPY--clean and fresh internally, and in an unworn binding.
This is an unusually well-preserved copy of the only book illustrated by Matisse to be published in America, and one of the great collaborations of artist and author in the annals of 20th century private press publication. In the opinion of art publisher Monroe Wheeler, "it was a great idea to bring [Joyce and Matisse] together" since they were "celebrities of the same generation, of similar virtuosity." Newman says that this work and the Limited Editions Club "Lysistrata" "stand as landmarks in the history of the illustrated book," and that "Ulysses" is almost certainly the most famous work among LEC publications designed by George Macy. Matisse's illustrations are curious in that they were based not on "Ulysses," a work the artist had not read when he was asked to make etchings for the text, but on Homer's "Odyssey," from which Joyce's book obviously derives. "Following Matisse's wishes, the preparatory studies were grouped in front of each corresponding print, allowing the viewer to see the progression from sketch to finished composition." (Grolier Club Exhibition) Joyce was furious when he learned that Matisse had chosen to illustrate scenes from Homer's "Odyssey," rather than from Joyce's novel, and as a consequence, he stopped signing the present Limited Editions Club printing in a fit of pique, after affixing his signature to 250 copies (whereas Matisse signed them all). Although the LEC edition of "Ulysses" is far from a rare book in the marketplace, obtaining a copy of the volume and the slipcase in the very fine condition seen here is becoming increasingly difficult.
Introduction by Stuart Gilbert.
Publisher's original brown buckram, embossed in gilt and titled on front cover and on flat spine, the decorations from a design by LeRoy H. Appleton. In the publisher's slipcase.
WITH 26 ILLUSTRATIONS BY HENRI MATISSE, depicting the Calypso, Aeolus, Cyclops, Nausicaa, Circe, and Ithaca episodes from Homer's "Odyssey."
Front pastedown with evidence of bookplate removal.
Slocum & Cahoon A-22; Quarto-Millenary 71; "The Artist and the Book" 197.
Slipcase with only the most trivial signs of wear, text with half a dozen tiny, faint marginal smudges (from the printing process), but A VERY FINE COPY--clean and fresh internally, and in an unworn binding.
This is an unusually well-preserved copy of the only book illustrated by Matisse to be published in America, and one of the great collaborations of artist and author in the annals of 20th century private press publication. In the opinion of art publisher Monroe Wheeler, "it was a great idea to bring [Joyce and Matisse] together" since they were "celebrities of the same generation, of similar virtuosity." Newman says that this work and the Limited Editions Club "Lysistrata" "stand as landmarks in the history of the illustrated book," and that "Ulysses" is almost certainly the most famous work among LEC publications designed by George Macy. Matisse's illustrations are curious in that they were based not on "Ulysses," a work the artist had not read when he was asked to make etchings for the text, but on Homer's "Odyssey," from which Joyce's book obviously derives. "Following Matisse's wishes, the preparatory studies were grouped in front of each corresponding print, allowing the viewer to see the progression from sketch to finished composition." (Grolier Club Exhibition) Joyce was furious when he learned that Matisse had chosen to illustrate scenes from Homer's "Odyssey," rather than from Joyce's novel, and as a consequence, he stopped signing the present Limited Editions Club printing in a fit of pique, after affixing his signature to 250 copies (whereas Matisse signed them all). Although the LEC edition of "Ulysses" is far from a rare book in the marketplace, obtaining a copy of the volume and the slipcase in the very fine condition seen here is becoming increasingly difficult.
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Bookseller
Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books and Medieval Manuscripts
(US)
- Book Condition Used
- Quantity Available 1
- Edition No. 316 of 1,500 Copies
- Publisher The Limited Editions Club
- Place of Publication New York
- Date Published 1935
- Pages xv, [iii], 363, [3] pp.
- Size 305 x 241 mm. (12 x 9 1/2").
- Size 305 x 241 mm. (12 x 9 1/2").
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Ulysses
by Joyce, James; Matisse, Henri (illustrator); Gibert, Stuart (introduction)
- Used
- Fine
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- Used - Fine
- Edition
- First Edition
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
- Item Price
-
$25,000.00
Show Details
Item Price
$25,000.00