Carlton Lake Collection of Maurice Saillet, Sylvia Beach, and Shakespeare and Company, Harry Ransom Center, 262.10
#4 Sylvia Beach’s subscriber’s list for Ulysses, 1922.
by CLARE HUTTON
This is the fourth article in a series devoted to objects that tell the story of women who supported author James Joyce and the publication of his landmark novel, Ulysses (1922). Learn more in the exhibition, Women and the Making of Joyce’s Ulysses, curated by Dr. Clare Hutton and on view through July 17, 2022. Subscribe to eNews to receive all the articles in this series.
This tiny ledger, meticulously compiled by Sylvia Beach, records subscriptions for the first edition of Ulysses. It serves as a potent reminder of the necessary administrative labor and organization going on behind the scenes at Shakespeare and Company. Ulysses, issued in a limited edition of 1,000 copies on February 2, 1922, the occasion of Joyce’s fortieth birthday, had sold out by June 15, 1922. In no small part, this success must be attributed to Beach’s considerable energy, efficiency, and business acumen.
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