[Finnegans Wake] OUR EXAGMINATION ROUND HIS FACTIFICATION FOR INCAMINATION OF "WORK IN PROGRESS"; with Letters of Protest

Paris: Shakespeare & Co. | Sylvia Beach, 1929. Original Wrappers. Good binding. Octavo. [6], 194, [4] pp. First edition. A note on the leaf opposite p. 194 notes that 96 copies were printed on verge d'Arches, numbered 1-96. It's uncertain if this is an out of series copy from this limitation or if that statement refers to another edition. In publisher's printed wrappers. Rubber stamped, "Made In / Great Britain" below the date on the title page. A fragile book, the front wrapper is detaching but holding for the moment; a bit of chipping to the bottom of the spine and the inner corner of the front wrapper--not affecting text; wear to the bottom edge of the rear wrapper; narrow tidelines to some areas of the wrapper edges, not intruding into the textblock; textblock is generally and evenly toned; contemporary bookseller's ticket for The Personal Book Shop, Boston on the front free endpaper.

This collection of critical essays constituted Joyce's attempt to combat unfavorable reviews of early serialized versions of what would become Finnegans Wake (1939). Here gathered are a dozen essays and two less than favorable "letters," one of which was long thought to have been written by Joyce himself. Of note, this work is Samuel Beckett's first appearance in print with his contribution: "Dante. . . Bruno. Vico. . Joyce" (Federman 1). A remarkable book, capturing the spirit of the expatriate movement--an international cast of writers, publicizing in their way the Irish writer's most challenging work to come, printed by an American in Paris. Such was the time.