V.A.12
Second Copybook of the Earlier Draft of the "Oxen of the Sun" (14) Episode (1920)1
Material Description and Collation
The manuscript is a copybook in Joyce’s hand in black ink, with additions and/or revisions in pencil on all the inscribed pages, except pp. [1r], [3v], [9v], [10r], [10v], [11v], [12r] and [12v]; and pp. [7v], [13v] and [16v] are all in pencil; and p. [4v] is written in pencil and revised in ink. It consists of 16 leaves (32 pages) of blue lined paper, of which 28 pages are inscribed and 4 are blank: pp. [14v]–[16r]. Joyce also wrote on the front cover verso in black ink.
As manufactured, the copybook was held together with 2 metal staples in the center vertical fold; they were removed for conservation purposes and the manuscript was disbound. It has a heavier stock tan paper cover. The cover and each sheet of the manuscript were cleaned, de-acidified and individually encapsulated in May 1988.
Measurements
Each leaf measures 22.7 x 16.2 cm.
Pagination
Joyce foliated the rectos of pp. [1r]–[13r] "11)"–"23)" in the left margin in pencil, following directly from the pagination of Buffalo MS V.A.11, the first part of the earlier draft of this episode.
Contents
The manuscript is the second part of the earliest complete draft of the "Oxen of the Sun" episode of Ulysses . It continues the draft directly in mid sentence from Buffalo MS V.A.11 (14.0010–0356) and is continued directly on NLI MSS 36,639/11/A (14.0845–1173) and 11/B (14.1174–1587). For further details about the two extant draft levels of this episode, see MS V.A.11, Contents .
The text on each page of this manuscript is as follows:
| MS V.A.12 Page | Corresponding Text on the Later Manuscripts | Ulysses Text 1922 (1992) / 1986 |
|---|---|---|
| FCV | NLI MS 36,639/11/C, p. [5r] | 376.35–377.01 / 14.0416–0418 |
| p. [1r]: "11" | NLI MS 36,639/11/C, pp. [4r]–[6r] | 375.16–377.03 / 14.0357–0420 |
| p. [1v] | NLI MS 36,639/11/C, pp. [4r]–[5r] | 376.08–19 / 14.0387–0400 |
| p. [2r]: "12" | NLI MS 36,639/11/C, p. [6r] and Buffalo MS V.A.15, p. [2r] |
377.04–23 / 14.0420–0441 |
| p. [2v] | See Buffalo MS V.A.15, pp. [2r]–[3r] | Additional texts for p. [3r] |
| p. [3r]: "13" | Buffalo MS V.A.15, pp. [2r]–[3r] | 377.24–378.09 / 14.00441–0466 |
| p. [3v] | See NLI MS 36,639/11/D, p. [1r] | 378.26–27 / 14.0484 |
| p. [4r]: "14" | Buffalo MS V.A.15, p. [3r] and NLI MS 36,639/11/D, p. [1r] |
378.09–29 / 14.0466–0486 |
| p. [4v] | NLI MS 36,639/11/D, p. [1r] | 379.07 / 14.0502 |
| p. [5r]: "15" | NLI MS 36,639/11/D, pp. [1r]–[2r] and Buffalo MS V.A.16, p. [2r] | 378.29–379.34 / 14.0487–0530 |
| p. [5v] | See Buffalo MS V.A.16, pp. [2r]–[3r] | Additional texts for p. [6r] |
| p. [6r]: "16" | Buffalo MS V.A.16, pp. [2r]–[3r] | 379.34–380.32 / 14.0530–0567 |
| p. [6v] | See Buffalo MS V.A.16, pp. [3r]–[4r] | Additional texts for p. [7r] |
| p. [7r]: "17" | Buffalo MS V.A.16, pp. [3r]–[4r] | 380.32–381.22 / 14.0567–0596 |
| p. [7v] | Buffalo MS V.A.16, p. [6r] | 382.29–31 / 14.0642–0645 |
| p. [8r]: "18" | Buffalo MS V.A.16, pp. [4r]–[6r] | 381.22–382.32 / 14.0596–0645 |
| p. [8v] | See Buffalo MS V.A.17, pp. [2r]–[3r] | See 384.07–10 and 383.16–26 / 14.678–701 and 14.0667–0678 |
| p. [9r]: "19" | Buffalo MSS V.A.16, p. [6r] and Buffalo MS V.A.17, pp. [2r]–[3r] |
382.33–383.30 / 14.0646–0684 |
| p. [9v] | Buffalo MS V.A.17, pp. [3r]–[4r] | 384.14–18 / 14.0705–0710 |
| p. [10r]: "20" | Buffalo MS V.A.17, pp. [3r]–[4r] | 383.31–384.28 / 14.0684–0721 |
| p. [10v]: | See Buffalo MS V.A.17, pp. [4r]–[5r] | Additional texts for p. [11r] |
| p. [11r]: "21" | Buffalo MS V.A.17, pp. [4r]–[5r] | 384.28–385.14 / 14.0721–0745 |
| p. [11v]: | Buffalo MS V.A.17, pp. [5r]–[6r] | 385.25–30 and 385.34 / 14.0757–0761 and 14.0766 |
| p. [12r]: "22" | Buffalo MS V.A.17, pp. [5r]–[6r] | 385.14–386.05 / 14.0745–0775 |
| p. [12v]: | Buffalo MS V.A.17, pp. [6r]–[7r] | 386.15–19 and 386.12–13 / 14.0786–0789 and 14.0782–0784 |
| p. [13r]: "23" | Buffalo MS V.A.17, pp. [6r]–[7r] | 386.05–26 / 14.0775–0797 |
| p. [13v]: | Buffalo MS V.A.17, p. [8r] | 387.04 / 14.0813 |
| p. [14r]: | Buffalo MS V.A.17, pp. [7r]–[8r] | 386.26–387.03 / 14.0797–0812 |
| p. [14v]: Blank | NA | NA |
| p. [15r]: Blank | NA | NA |
| p. [15v]: Blank | NA | NA |
| p. [16r]: Blank | NA | NA |
| p. [16v]: | Buffalo MS V.A.14, p. [8r] | 373.03–15 / 14.0264–0276 |
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 some or all of the text with X s and/or lines on all of the inscribed pages in red crayon, except p. [16v], and an additional text in the margin of p. [6v] in blue crayon. He also tagged an insertion on p. [1v] with an "N" and correspondingly its insertion place is also tagged with an "N" on p. [1r], both in red crayon. During conservation, therefore after the manuscript’s publication in the JJA , the recto of each leaf was marked "V. A. 12. 1"–"V. A. 12. 16" in the bottom right corner in pencil. The back cover verso is marked "V.A.12". There are rust stains from the staples between pp. [8v] and [9r] as well on the front cover recto and back cover verso. The are water stains in the upper right margins of the rectos and the upper left margins of the versos of the front cover recto and pp. [1r]–[4r] and the upper corners of pp. [10r] and [10v] have been burned.
Publication
This manuscript has been reproduced in black and white photo-facsimile on JJA 14.028–056.
- La Hune, item 258.B; Slocum and Cahoon, item E.5.b.viii.