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IV.B.1.
*IV.B.1: Occasional Verses:
"Who is Sylvia, what is she" (1922):1
Material Description and Collation: The manuscript is a loose sheet of tan unruled rolled paper in Joyce's hand in black ink; the verso is blank. It is tipped into Sylvia Beach's copy No. 2 of the first edition of Ulysses (Paris: Shakespeare and Company, 1922; Slocum and Cahoon A17), along with a grey envelope addressed in Joyce's hand in ink on which Joyce wrote: "Miss Sylvia Beach | Shksp".
Measurements: The manuscript measures 18.0 x 12.9 cm.
Contents: The manuscript is a parody of William Shakespeare's "Who is Sylvia, what is she…, (from The Two Gentlemen from Verona)" honoring Sylvia Beach as the publisher of Ulysses.
Dating: Joyce wrote this manuscript in February 1922 in Paris.
Other Markings: Joyce wrote: "J.J. | after | W.S." below the text in black ink.
Publication: This manuscript has been reproduced in black and white photo-facsimile on JJA 1.322. The poem was published in Sylvia Beach, Shakespeare and Company (New York: Harcourt Brace and Co., 1959), p. 85 and then in PSW, p. 127.
Notes: The manuscript was folded vertically four times and once horizontally. Sylvia Beach made a copy of the poem; it is in the Firestone Library, Princeton University (see JJA 1.323).
