V.A.15
Fourth Copybook of the Later Draft of the "Oxen of the Sun" (14) Episode: "IV" (1920)1
Material Description and Collation
The manuscript is a copybook in Joyce’s hand all in black ink, with pencil revisions and additions only on pp. [2r] and [3r]. Though the original pagination has been maintained, the manuscript now consists of only 8 leaves (16 pages) of blue lined sheets, of which 2 pages are inscribed with text: pp. [2r] and [3r]; pp. [4r] and [5r] are only paginated but otherwise blank and all the remaining pages are blank. A blank sheet (2 leaves or 4 pages: pp. [1r] [1v], [10r] and [10v]) that was originally part of this manuscript is no longer with the manuscript in the Buffalo Joyce Collection.
As manufactured, the copybook was held together with a metal staple in the center vertical fold; it was removed for conservation purposes and the manuscript was disbound. It has a faded gray paper cover; on its front recto is printed a double border with floral ornaments at the corners. Within the border is a printed box enclosing the printed words "QUADERNO | di | [dotted rule]" and at the bottom, within a printed box breaking the border, is printed: "N. 3". On the back cover verso is printed: "ORARIO DELLE LEZIONI | [table] | TAVOLA PITAGORICA | [table]". The insides of the cover are blank. Although they vary in certain physical details, this copybook is of a similar kind as Buffalo MSS V.A.13, 14 and 16–18 and NLI MSS 36,639/11/C, 11/D & 11/E. The cover and each sheet of the manuscript were cleaned, de-acidified and individually encapsulated in December 1987.
Title
Joyce wrote "IV" in the center of the label on the front cover recto and "(4)" in the top left corner of p. [2r], both in red crayon.
Measurements
Each leaf measures 20.3 x 14.8 cm.
Pagination
Joyce foliated the rectos of pp. [2r]–[4r] "1"–"4"; the remaining pages are not numbered.
Contents
The manuscript is the fourth part of the later complete draft of the "Oxen of the Sun" episode of Ulysses . The draft is continued from Buffalo MS V.A.13 (368.04–369.14 / 14.0071–0122), MS V.A.14 (369.15–373.15 / 14.0123–0276) and NLI MS 36,639/11/C (373.16–377.11 / 14.0277–0428) and is continued in 5 further copybooks and 3 loose leaves (NLI MS 36,639/11/F) as follows:
| Manuscript | Ulysses Text 1922 (1992) / 1986 |
|---|---|
| NLI MS 36,639/11/D | 378.17–379.32 / 14.0474–0528 |
| Buffalo MS V.A.16 | 379.32–382.36 / 14.0529–0650 |
| Buffalo MS V.A.17 | 382.37–387.34 / 14.0651–0844 |
| Buffalo MS V.A18 | 387.35–394.27 / 14.0845–1109 |
| NLI MS 36,639/11/E | 394.28–403.09 / 14.1110–1439 |
| NLI MS 36,639/11/F | 403.10–407.07 / 14.1440–1591 |
The text on each page of this manuscript is as follows:
| MS V.A.15 Page | Corresponding Text on the Earlier Manuscript V.A.12 |
Corresponding Text on the Later "Oxen of the Sun" Rosenbach Manuscript |
Ulysses Text 1922 (1992) / 1986 |
|---|---|---|---|
| p. [2r]: "1" | pp. [2r]–[3r] | pp. "19"–"20" | 377.12–32 / 14.0429–0451 |
| p. [2v]: | NA | NA | NA |
| p. [3r]: "2" | pp. [3r]–[3v] | pp. "20"–"21" | 377.33–378.16 / 14.0451–0473 |
| p. [3v] | NA | NA | NA |
| p. [4r]: "3": Blank | NA | NA | NA |
| p. [4v]: Blank | NA | NA | NA |
| p. [5r]: "4": Blank | NA | NA | NA |
| p. [5v]: Blank | NA | NA | NA |
| p. [6r]: Blank | NA | NA | NA |
| p. [6v]: Blank | NA | NA | NA |
| p. [7r]: Blank | NA | NA | NA |
| p. [7v]: Blank | NA | NA | NA |
| p. [8r]: Blank | NA | NA | NA |
| p. [8v]: Blank | NA | NA | NA |
| p. [9r]: Blank | NA | NA | NA |
| p. [9v]: Blank | NA | NA | NA |
Dating
Joyce wrote this manuscript between early February and 20 March 1920 during his post World War I stay in Trieste.
Other Markings
Joyce crossed through all of the text with X s on both of the inscribed pages in red crayon. During conservation, therefore after the manuscript’s publication in the JJA , the versos of pp. [6]–[9] were marked "IV" in the bottom left corner in pencil. The cover is not marked.
Publication
This manuscript has been reproduced in black and white photo-facsimile on JJA 14.081–085.
- The preservation states: "These writings were executed in bluish black writing ink with corrections in a browner writing ink and graphite pencil. A red pencil was also used to cross out areas and to number the cover of each notebook."