IV.B.11: Occasional Verses

“A Portrait of the Artist as an Ancient Mariner” (1932)

Material Description and Collation

The manuscript is a sheet of unlined tan paper; single-spaced top (original) black ribbon copy, with corrections in Joyce’s hand in black ink.

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Title

“A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS AN ANCIENT MARINER“.

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Measurements

The manuscript measures 26.6 x 20.9 cm.

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Contents

The manuscript is a poem about Joyce’s publishing issues with Ulysses in 1932.

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Dating

Joyce wrote this poem in October 1932.

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Other Markings

Joyce initialed and dated the manuscript “J. J. | Oct. ’32” below the text.

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Publication

The manuscript has been reproduced in black and white photo-facsimile on JJA 1.353 and appeared in JJII (pp. 654–655) and then was published in PSW, p. 143–144.

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Notes

Joyce gave this manuscript to Sylvia Beach (see Buffalo MS X.C.244; Joyce to Beach; 30 October 1932; JJSB, p. 185). There is carbon copy of this typescript, without corrections, and two further, different typescript copies in the Zurich James Joyce Foundation as part of the Jahnke Bequest.

There is a note with the manuscript in Sylvia Beach’s hand in blue ink that reads: “referring to the Albatross Press | edition of Ulysses”. The manuscript was folded twice horizontally and once vertically.