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Joyce, James; illustrated by Matisse. Ulysses. With an Introduction by Stuart Gilbert and Illustrations by Henri Matisse.. The Limited Editions Club, New York, 1935.

Price: US$4000.00 + shipping

Condition: Very Good

Description: 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.

Seller: Moroccobound Fine Books, IOBA, Lewis Center, OH, U.S.A.

Joyce, James. ULYSSES. The Limited Editions Club: NY, 1935.

Price: US$4312.50 + shipping

Description: 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.

Seller: John K King Used & Rare Books, Detroit, MI, U.S.A.

Joyce, James and Henri Matisse. Ulysses.. Limited Editions Club, New York, 1935.

Price: US$6000.00 + shipping

Description: First illustrated edition of Joyce’s landmark Ulysses, number 1134 of 1500 copies signed by Henri Matisse, with 26 illustrations by him, one of the 20th-century’s most desirable illustrated books, combining the work of two great modern artists. Large quarto, original gilt-stamped pictorial brown cloth, original slipcase. In near fine condition with the rare original slipcase. With an introduction by Stuart Gilbert. An exceptional example. 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).

Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.

Joyce, James; Matisse, Henri. ULYSSES. The Limited Editions Club, New York, 1935.

Price: US$8000.00 + shipping

Description: The iconic modernist book, signed by Matisse - one of the great editions of one of the great books. Joyce's masterpiece, in the deluxe edition published after the 1933 landmark ruling in the case of United States v. One Book Called Ulysses. Eleven years after the book's initial publication, a US court affirmed that in the matter of obscenity, One Book Called Ulysses had soundly defeated the United States, and immediately thereafter, Limited Editions Club founder George Macy began to plan what would be a monumental achievement: a landmark among Matisse's livres d'artiste, reproducing his preparatory drawings alongside the final soft-ground etchings; the only illustrated ULYSSES with an introduction that Joyce allowed to be published; and the most accurate text of the novel published in the US until 1961. In the early days of the project, believing that the artist "[knew] the French translation very well" and only wanted for an idea of the Irish context, Joyce proposed to send him an illustrated Dublin weekly of 1904 for visual reference. But Matisse had no interest in the specificities of Ireland, and, though his drawings were organized around the Odyssey itself, barely more interest in the specificities of Greece (the two struggling women of his "Calypso," Hillary Spurling suggests, were "an image that had more to do with the artist's own home life that summer than with either Joyce or Homer.") Seeing the sample drawings, George Macy began to plea for some connection, any connection between image and text: "While we understand, and admire, the idea by which the plates are to be illustrative of Homer's Odyssey, it is essential that the incidents of the Odyssey which are illustrated must also make reference to incidents in Joyce's book." This was no way to speak to a great artist. Matisse responded by matching his drawings to individual chapters without explanation, saying only that they represented "reactions of my mind before Joyce's work" and, by the way, "Mr. James Joyce, who knows about the way I am illustrating his book, quite agrees with me on it." This would perhaps have been news to Mr. James Joyce, whose best-known comment on the finished product was: "If they had been signed L.J. [Lucia Joyce] instead of H.M. people would have had a different tale to tell. I am only too painfully aware that Lucia has no future but that does not prevent me from seeing the difference between what is beautiful and shapely and what is ugly and shapeless. As usual I am in a minority of one." Setting aside Joyce's opinion, Matisse's work may be viewed as conceptually linked to his own: not illustrations in any conventional sense, but a parallel artistic project, a second great modernist manipulation of the ODYSSEY. Another plausible interpretation of Matisse's drawings understands them as a response not to the text but to "the critical apparatus that developed around the novel during the 1930s" (Brown), and specifically to Stuart Gilbert's perceptive introduction. As for contemporary reception, members of the Limited Editions Club expressed one of three reactions: A vile book, dressed up with great art; a great book, ruined by "crackpot drawings"; or a magnificent work, the expression of "perfect rapport among author, illustrator and designer." The third judgment has held up quite well. 11.75'' x 9''. Original brown Bancroft buckram with gilt globe stamped to front board. In original slipcase. Designed by George Macy. Introduction by Stuart Gilbert. Illustrated with six etchings and 20 tipped-in drawings on blue and yellow paper. 363, [1] pages. Edition of 1500 numbered copies signed by Matisse. This copy no. 1264. Slipcase with light expert restoration at edges; some rubbing and soiling overall. Book just starting at top of rear hinge, but firm. Else clean and bright. Both housed in a custom quarter leather over black cloth archival clamshell box with gilt title spine. Very good plus in a very good slipcase.

Seller: Type Punch Matrix, Silver Spring, MD, U.S.A.

Joyce, James; Matisse, Henri (illustrator); Gibert, Stuart (introduction). Ulysses. Limited Editions Club, 1935.

Price: US$25000.00 + shipping

Condition: Fine

Description: 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 Public, 1951).

Seller: Arundel Books, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.

Joyce, James and Henri Matisse. Ulysses.. Limited Editions Club, New York, 1935.

Price: US$30000.00 + shipping

Description: First illustrated edition of Joyce’s 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-century’s 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).

Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.

JOYCE, James. MATISSE, Henri.. Ulysses.. The Limited Editions Club, New York, 1935.

Price: US$35000.00 + shipping

Description: 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.

Seller: Jeffrey H. Marks, Rare Books, ABAA, Rochester, NY, U.S.A.

MATISSE, Henri.. Six Signed Proofs of Original Etchings by Henri Matisse Made to Serve as Illustrations for Six Episodes in James Joyce's 'Ulysses' which have their Counterparts in Homer's 'Odyssey'.. New York The Print Club, 1935.

Price: US$45375.00 + shipping

Description: Limited edition, number 23 of 150 copies, numbered and signed by Matisse, folio (41.5 x 32 cm); complete set of six etchings on Arches vellum paper, each signed, numbered and captioned in pencil by Matisse; brown cloth folding portfolio. frieze23 Rare suite of etchings, limited to only 150 sets, each plate signed in pencil by Matisse. Number 23 from an edition of 150. The plates depict episodes in the edition of James Joyce's Ulysses published in 1935 by the Limited Editions Club and illustrated by Matisse. They comprise: 'The Calypso Episode'; 'Aeolus, Cave of the Winds'; 'The Cyclops'; 'The Episode of Nausicaä'; 'The Circle Episode'; and 'Symbolic Landscape: Ithaca.'

Seller: Shapero Rare Books, London, United Kingdom

MATISSE, Henri.. Six signed proofs of original etchings for Ulysses.. New York: The Print Club, 1935, 1935.

Price: US$64977.29 + shipping

Description: Signed limited portfolio, number 61 of 150 sets of six plates, each of which are signed numbered and titled by Matisse. The plates comprise the artist's illustrations for the first illustrated edition of James Joyce's Ulysses, published by the Limited Editions Club the same year. Within weeks of the lifting of the US ban on Ulysses (6 December 1933), Limited Editions Club impresario George Macy approached Joyce about a special edition of the book, and by February 1934 he was en route to Paris to speak to Matisse about illustrations. Matisse accepted, and produced etchings for six of the eight episodes of Ulysses that have their counterparts in Homer's Odyssey: "The Calypso Episode"; "Aeolus, Cave of the Winds"; "The Cyclops" (described by Aragon as "the only true image of pain in Matisse's work"); "The Episode of Nausicaä"; "The Circle Episode"; and "Symbolic Landscape: Ithaca". While Joyce was delighted with the idea of Matisse illustrating his masterpiece, he was apprehensive that the artist might not have read Ulysses. Matisse had been given a copy of the French translation by Joyce scholar Stuart Gilbert, but his neighbour, the writer Dorothy Bussy, remarked that he was "in a complete fog about it" (Goodwin, p. 91). She lent him a copy of Gilbert's seminal James Joyce's Ulysses: A Study (1930). Regardless of whether Matisse read Ulysses in its entirety, Joyce approved of his decision to emphasize the classical source text: "I telephoned Joyce and spoke to him. We are in complete agreement regarding the character that I want to give to the illustration" (Matisse, letter to Simon Bussy, 11 August 1934). Aragon, p. 198; Henri Matisse, L'oeuvre gravé, 235-240; Slocum & Cahoon, 22. See William Goodwin, "'A Very Pretty Picture M. Matisse But You Must Not Call It Joyce': The Making of the Limited Editions Club Ulysses", Joyce Studies Annual Vol. 10, Summer 1999, pp. 85-103. Folio. Six soft ground etchings printed on Arches vellum paper, each separated by original tissue guards. Sheet sizes: 41.3 x 31.5 cm. In the brown cloth folding portfolio, as issued. Housed in a black quarter morocco solander box by the Chelsea Bindery. Spine of portfolio worn, joints tender. Contents clean.

Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom

Matisse, Henri (illustrator). Six Signed Proofs of Original Etchings by Henri Matisse. Illustrations for Ulysses by James Joyce, published by the Limited Editions Club. The Print Club, NY, 1935.

Price: US$65000.00 + shipping

Description: Each print is titled, numbered, and signed by Matisse. The first 250 copies were signed by Joyce and Matisse. The final 1250 were signed only by Matisse Very good with faint label residue on foot of inside cover. Cloth on flaps faintly faded near edges. Slight bumping and creasing of title page. Prints are near fine with tissue protectors. Prospectus has gentle creasing and rubbed edges

Seller: Weller Book Works, A.B.A.A., Salt Lake City, UT, U.S.A.