*V.A.21

*V.A.21:
Partial Later Draft of the "Eumaeus" (16) Episode (1921)¹

Material Description and Collation: The manuscript is a copybook in Joyce's hand in black ink, with pencil additions and/or revisions on all the inscribed pages, except pp. [2r], [2v], [4v], [6v], [8r]–[11r], [12v], [16v] and [19r]–[24v]; the text on p. [17v] is in pencil with ink revisions, and the text on p. [18v] is all in pencil. It consists of 24 leaves (48 pages) of graph paper, of which 37 pages are inscribed and 11 are blank: pp. [1r], [1v], [3v], [5v], [7v], [8v], [9v], [10v], [11v], [14v] and [15v]. Joyce also made some calculations on the back cover recto in black ink.

As manufactured, the copybook was stitched through 3 holes in the center vertical fold; they were removed for conservation purposes and the manuscript was disbound. It has a heavier stock faded lavender paper cover with a black cloth spine. The cover and each sheet were cleaned, de-acidified and individually encapsulated in March 1988 and a torn fragment on p. [20] was repaired.

Measurements: Each leaf measures 19.3 x 14.5 cm.

Pagination: Joyce foliated pp. [2r]–[7r] "1"–"6" and pp. [8r]–[12r] "7)"–"11)" in the left margin in pencil; the remaining pages are not numbered.

Contents: The manuscript is the second part of a later draft of the "Eumaeus" episode, the first part of which is not known to be extant though this manuscript begins in mid sentence one third of the way through the episode as eventually published. Although this manuscript appears to be a continuous draft, there is gap in the text here on p. [20r] (from Ulysses 16.1289 to 16.1454) that Joyce had written by the time the Rosenbach manuscript version of the episode was completed.² An earlier draft of the episode, the so-called "Eumeo" manuscript, was sold at auction by Sotheby's London to an anonymous private collector in July 2001.³

Note that when Joyce reached the last page of the manuscript (p. [24v]) he continued the draft on the at the time blank versos, pp. [23v]–[22v]–[21v]–[20v], in that order (as he often did, including as on the earlier "Eumeo" manuscript). The text on each page of this manuscript is as follows:

Dating: Joyce wrote this draft from January to mid February 1921 in Paris.

Other Markings: Joyce crossed through the text on all the inscribed pages with X s and lines in colored crayon: pp. [17v], [18v] and [19r] in red crayon, pp. [18r] and [20] in both red and blue crayon and all the remaining pages in blue crayon; traces of the colored crayon appear on many of the facing pages. The front cover recto is marked "4)" in the top left corner in pencil; it is possibly a stationer's mark. During conservation, therefore after the manuscript's publication in the JJA , the recto of each leaf was marked "V. A. 21. 1"–"V. A. 21. 24" in the bottom right corner in pencil. The back cover recto is also marked "V. A. 21" in pencil.

Publication: The manuscript has been reproduced in black and white photo-facsimile on JJA 15.321–368.

Notes: There is a note with the manuscript in Beach's hand in blue in ink that reads: "Eumaeus | copybook".

back to top

1. La Hune, item 259; Slocum and Cahoon, item E.5.b.xi.
2. For further information on the complex textual status of this manuscript and the Rosenbach version of the episode, see CSE , pp. 1863–1867.
3. See Peter Selley, “The Lost ‘Eumaeus' Notebook: James Joyce, Autograph Manuscript of the ‘Eumaeus' Episode of Ulysses ” (Sotheby's London, 10 July 2001).
4. The opening of the episode in an earlier form is part of the "Eumeo" manuscript.

• rss
• facebook
• youtube
• twitter