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IV.B.2: Occasional Verses

Post Ulixem Scriptum” (1925)

Material Description and Collation

The manuscript is a loose sheet of unruled paper in Joyce’s hand in lead pencil, with writing on both sides of the sheet. This is a faircopy with one minor correction.


Title

Post Ulixem Scriptum | (Air: Molly Brannigan)”.


Measurements

The manuscript measures 31.7 x 21.4 cm.


Contents

The manuscript is a version of Joyce’s parody of “Molly Brannigan,” telling of the charms of Molly Bloom.


Dating

Joyce wrote this manuscript on 12 March 1925 in Paris.


Other Markings

Joyce signed and dated the manuscript: “J.J. | 12. iii. 925 | Paris” below the text in lead pencil.


Publication

This manuscript has been reproduced in black and white photo-facsimile on JJA 1.328–329. The poem was published in Herbert Gorman, James Joyce (New York, Toronto: Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., 1939), pp. 282–283 and subsequently in PSW, pp. 131–132.


Notes

This is Sylvia Beach’s copy. There are water stains on the sheet and it has been folded once horizontally and twice vertically.

Joyce made several copies of the verse, including one for Harriet Shaw Weaver, which is in the British Library (see JJA 1.326–327), and there is at least one other copy in a private collection.1 There is also a typescript copy of the poem in the Firestone Library, Princeton University (see JJA 1.330), which was probably prepared by Beach.


  1. See “Formerly the Property of Stanislaus Joyce (Lots 172–201)” (Sotheby’s London, Thursday, 8 July 2004), lot 185.