VI.H.1.
*VI.H.1 [VI.G.3]: "Work in Progress"/Finnegans Wake Page Proofs: Specimen Page Proof "F" of Finnegans Wake I.1 and III.3 (1931):
Material Description and Collation
The manuscript is 1 sheet of cream-white laid paper, printed on both sides in black ink, with no corrections or revisions. It contains 2 conjugate leaves, folded vertically in the center, with 3 pages of printed text: p. [135] reads "Specimen F, MacLehose, 528 pages | August 12, 1931", pp. "136" and "137" contain text for Finnegans Wake, and p. [138] is blank.
Measurements
The manuscript measures 24.3 x 30.6 cm. The text blocks measure 17.2 x 9.8 cm.; the text block of the limited first edition measures 17.4 x 10.2 cm.
Pagination
Although the text is not continuous, the two center pages are (notionally) numbered "136" and "137" in the bottom center margin; the other pages are not numbered.
Contents
The manuscript is the earliest known specimen page proof setting for Finnegans Wake. It was set by Faber & Faber’s printers, R. MacLehose and Company Limited, Glasgow: it is labeled " Specimen F". The text was set from unrevised copies of transition 1 (09.21–11.03; April 1927) and transition 15 (214.01–39; February 1929), which were presumably selected at random by the publisher or the printers; see Finnegans Wake 003.19–005.10 and 499.21–500.27.
There are 41 lines of text on pp. "136" and "137". According to the printer, if the work were set in this font at this point size, they estimated the book would have comprised 528 pages.
Dating
The manuscript is dated "August 12, 1931" by the printer.
Other Markings
Joyce wrote "for Sylvia Beach | J.J." in the lower margin of p. "136" and below this on the left-hand side he also wrote "London | 29. 8. 931", all in black ink; later he presented the manuscript to Beach (presumably together with MSS VI.H.2 and H.3).
Publication
The printed pages of this manuscript have been reproduced on JJA 61.658–660.
Notes
According to T.S. Eliot, Faber and Faber had the printers set up these two pages in "eleven different types" (Buffalo MS XI: Eliot to Joyce, no. 20; 20 August 1931), only three of which specimen proofs are known to be extant (Buffalo MSS VI.H.1–3); also see Joyce to Eliot; [about 15 October 1931]; LIII 232.