A beautful example of the first published edition of one of the greatest short story collections of all time, James Joyce's Dubliners.
One of approximately 746 copies bound in the publisher's maroon cloth. However, now only one of 246 examples after 500 were destroyed in a shipwreck on the way to America.
The publishing history of Dubliners is convoluted to say the least: Joyce had originally hoped to publish the book in 1906, after it was accepted for publication by the London publishers, Grant Richards. But, "after skirmishes with printers over objectionable passages, the publisher abandoned the book".
Four years later, the Dublin publishing house Maunsel & Company agreed to publish the book and 1,000 copies were printed in 1910. But, there was another row, over allegedly objectionable passages in at least one of the stories which Joyce refused to remove, and the copies were burnt.
Another four years passed and in 1914, back in London, Grant Richards finally published the book.
It is believed that 1,250 sets of sheets were printed, of which 746 were bound up in London and the remainder shipped to the US for an American edition. So the “true” first edition of Dubliners is one of the 746 copies published in London in June 1914 by Grant Richards. However some 500 copies were reputedly lost in a shipwreck so only 246 copies are believed to have survived making this one of the rarest of Joyce's iconic works.
First edition, first impression. A near fine example in the original publishers maroon cloth binding. Minor wear to the spine. Internally fine, the best I have ever seen, not a single blemish. A beautiful example with no restoration.
Published by Grant Richards Ltd, London, 1914.
