Ulysses by James Joyce, Henri Matisse (13 results)

With an Introduction by Stuart Gilbert. xvi [2] 363 [1] pp. Illustrations by Henri Matisse. Folio, publisher's embossed gilt cloth in publisher's slipcase. No. 1142 of 1500 copies; signed by Henri Matisse in pencil and by James Joyce in ink. Very slight tanning of (inner) hinges; but just about a fine copy. The fragile hinges are fine, which is unusual for this book. The publisher's box has a little bit of wear to the fore-edges and extremities, but is clean, tight and strong. Laid in is the publisher's four-page prospectus and postcard announcement for this book, plus an additional postcard announcement of shipment addressed to its first owner, in which the purchaser is informed that she was one of the fortunate Limited Editions Club members who are being shipped a copy signed by both Matisse and Joyce. The postcard goes on to describe how the Club tried to handle the imbalance between the number of members who wanted the Joyce signatures and the number of copies Joyce agreed to sign. We have never seen another copy of this postcard.

Condition: Near Fine. Signed Limited Edition. First illustrated edition of James Joyce's modernist masterpiece. One of a limited 250 copies signed by both James Joyce and Henri Matisse, from an edition of 1,500 total the majority of which were only signed by Matisse. Bound in publisher's brown cloth stamped in gilt with, top edge speckled brown; housed in the original tan cardstock slipcase with spine stamped in brown. 363 p. Near Fine with trivial rubbing to spine ends, corners and gilt at raised relief on upper board. In a Very Good+ slipcase with soiling and light wear, and a short repair to the seam at the opening along the bottom edge. A wonderful copy, housed in a custom brown cloth solander case with morocco spine label stamped in gilt. A visually striking production which combines James Joyce's modernist masterpiece with twenty-six illustrations by Matisse, including six hand-printed etchings and twenty lithographs. Slocum & Cahoon 22.

First illustrated edition of Joyceâs landmark Ulysses, one of only 250 examples signed by James Joyce in pen and Henri Matisse in pencil, with 26 illustrations by him, one of the 20th-centuryâs most desirable illustrated books, combining the work of two great modern artists. Large quarto, original gilt-stamped pictorial brown cloth, original slipcase. In fine condition with the rare original slipcase which is in good condition and original glassine jacket. With an introduction by Stuart Gilbert. An exceptional example, most rare in this condition and in the seldom seen glassine jacket. One of the most arresting collaborations in 20th-century literature. "It was a great idea to bring them together; celebrities of the same generation, of similar virtuosity" (Wheeler, 15). The 26 beautiful full-page illustrations by Matisse accompany the text of Joyce's Ulysses, including six soft-ground etchings with reproductions of the sketches on blue and yellow paper. "One of the very few American livres de peintres issued before World War II. According to George Macy [this work's designer], who undertook this only American publication of Matisse's illustrations, he asked the artist how many etchings the latter could provide for $5000. The artist chose to take six subjects from Homer's Odyssey. The preparatory drawings reproduced with the soft-ground etchings (Matisse's only use of this medium) record the evolution of the figures from vigorous sketches to closely knit compositions" (Artist and the Book 197).

Condition: Fine. Signed Limited Edition. First illustrated edition. 373 pp. Copy number 1492 of a limited 1,500, signed by Henri Matisse. Bound in publisher's brown cloth stamped in gilt with, top edge speckled brown. Fine, with just the faintest rubbing to the gilt-covered relief on the front cover, in Near Fine publisher's slipcase with slight soiling and slight wear, bubbling to paper on one face. A beautiful copy, in much nicer condition than as normally found. A visually striking production which combines James Joyce's modernist masterpiece with twenty-six illustrations by Matisse, including six hand-printed etchings and twenty lithographs.

Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. First edition thus. One of 1500 copies, this copy signed by the illustrator, Henri Matisse. Complete with the six soft-ground etchings and the 20 tipped in preliminary sketches on blue and yellow sheets. Publisher's brown cloth boards decorated in gilt. An unusually Fine and attractive copy, nearly pristine except for a stain at the fore-edge affecting the margin of one leaf. Slipcase also Fine overall with just a bit of fading to spine. Joyce's masterwork of modernism, one of the great books of the 20th century. Though it follows a single day in the life of Dubliner Leopold Bloom - June 16th, a day which has since become a worldwide holiday - Ulysses' complex structure is inspired by Homer's Odyssey. The book's stream-of-consciousness prose and its experimental nature were groundbreaking, and many of the techniques Joyce uses have since become standard fare. Ulysses took Joyce over seven years to write, and the story of its publication became an epic in itself. The work was first released in serial from 1918 to 1920 in the magazine The Little Review, and published in Paris in a limited first edition in 1922 by Sylvia Beach, the owner of the Shakespeare and Company bookstore. It was not, however, released in the UK and United States, where the book had quickly been banned. In fact, copies were smuggled into both countries until a landmark obscenity trial cleared the book for American publication in 1934. Joyce claimed that he "put in so many enigmas and puzzles [into Ulysses] that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that's the only way of insuring one's immortality." Time has certainly proven him correct. "Ulysses is the most important contribution that has been made to fictional literature in the twentieth century. It will immortalize its author with the same certainty that Gargantua and Pantagruel immortalized Rabelais, and The Brothers Karamazov Dostoevsky. It is likely that there is no one writing English today that could parallel Joyce's feat" (contemporary New York Times review). The Limited Editions Club was known for its impeccably illustrated volumes of classic texts. Founder George Macy had used such famous artists as Picasso to illustrate a 1934 version of Lysistrata and spared no expense for his 1935 edition of Ulysses. Matisse was paid $5,000 and made 26 illustrations for the work. Rumor has it that Matisse did not even read Ulysses itself, but rather based all of his work on the Odyssey. He did, however, stay in contact with Joyce while he worked on the drawings, done in charcoal and pencil. "the edition represents a rare example of a text in which both author and illustrator occupy an important position in the canon of their respective arts" (James A Knapp, "Joyce and Matisse Bound: Modernist Aesthetics in the Limited Editions Club Ulysses"). Fine in Fine dust jacket.

Edition limited to 1500 copies signed by Matisse (this being copy 1408), 4to, pp. [iii]-xv, [3], 363, [3]; 26 plates (6 soft-ground etchings, printed by hand, and 20 lithographic drawings made as studies for the etchings), printed on thin colored papers; original brown buckram with a gold embossed design on the front cover and repeated on the spine; a fine copy in the original publisher's box lettered and decorated in brown on spine; box shows some light soiling and staining, and which also shows very small cracks at the lower extremities. Small bookplate on front free endpaper. One of the most important illustrated books of the 20th century. "The text of this edition is based on that of the Odyssey Press edition, second impression, and is therefore the most accurate text of Ulysses that has been published in the United States" (Slocum & Cahoon). As the story goes, Joyce signed 250 copies but ceased in a huff when he learned that Matisse had made the illustrations based on Homer's Odyssey, not his own Ulysses which was only based on Homer. Slocum & Cahoon, A22; LEC Bibliography 71.

Hardcover. Condition: very good. Henri Matisse (illustrator). 363p, quarto. A very good copy in a worn publisher's slipcase. Inner hinges cracked but holding. Limited to 1500 copies, this copy is number 1137. Signed by Henri Matisse. Matisse's illustrations for this work were the source of much outrage for Joyce, as it came to be discovered that Matisse never read the book.

Illus. by Henri Matisse, 12 x 9.25", gilt-dec (by Matisse) brown cloth, 363pp, covers a little rubbed, extremities a little worn, spine a tad dull, hinges loose, bookseller ticket (Philip C. Duchnes) inside back cover; with the original "Monthly Letter" from the Limited Editions Club, and the original slipcase (very worn, stained, cracking at joints, etc.). LIMITED TO 1500 NUMBERED COPIES (this is copy #1261), SIGNED BY THE ILLUSTRATOR, HENRI MATISSE.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Limited Edition. One of 1500 numbered copies, this copy signed by the illustrator, Henri Matisse. Hardcover, bound in decorative cloth. Lacks slipcase. The corners rubbed, one a bit frayed; one minor closed tear front fly leaf; repairs to the endpapers along the fold. Signed by Illustrator(s).

Leather_Bound. Condition: As New. Reprint. As-new, shrinkwrapped copy. Full blue leather, all edges gilt, silk moire endpapers, silk marker ribbon. Four raised spine bands.

Condition: Very Good.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good+. No Jacket. Matisse, Henri (illustrator). First Edition Thus. First edition thus, hardcover in teal leather with gold gilt decoration and edges, with publisher's "Great Books of the 20th Century Collector's Notes" laid in at the front. The book has a slight lean to the binding, mild bumps to the spine ends and cover corners, a few small scuffs to the fore edge of the covers, and a touch of wear to the tail of the text block. Overall, a solid, Very Good+ copy.

732 [1] pp. Illustrations by Henri Matisse. 8vo, publisher's full leather, gilt, a.e.g. Collector's Edition. A near fine copy, with a little flaking to the large gilt ovals decorating the front cover. A facsimile of the first edition, with the addition of the Matisse illustrations first published by The Limited Editions Club.