Description
Autograph letter signed, one page (postcard) - also addressed verso in his own hand, 5,75 x 4 inch, "2 Avenue Saint Philibert" (former`s Paris apartment), 23.10.1931, to British polymath C. K. (Charles Kay) Ogden - concerning "a very good notice" in The Spectator (weekly British news magazine), written and signed in blue ink "James Joyce", attractively mounted (removable) for fine display with a portrait picture of Joyce (altogether 8,25 x 11,75 inch), with a small tear to the lower right edge and a small postal cancellation touching Joyce`s last name - in fine condition.
In parts:
"Dear Ogden: I did not register the note as it was after office hours but I hope you got them. There is a very good notice […] in Spectator of 10 instant. You ought to see it and tell Henry […] about it."
C. K. Ogden (1889–1957), an English linguistic psychologist best known for his invention of Basic English, was contacted by James Joyce in the summer of 1929 to write an introduction to his soon-to-be-published Tales Told of Shem and Shaun. Ogden accepted and, in turn, requested that Joyce meet him at the Orthological Institute in Cambridge for a recording. Joyce acquiesced in kind and, in August, read for a recording of Anna Livia Plurabelle, a ‘fragment’ published in 1925 as a part of Joyce’s 'Work in Progress,' which evolved into his monumental 1939 work Finnegans Wake.
Per Joyce biographer Richard Ellmann, due to the writer’s failing eyesight, ‘the pages had been prepared for him in half-inch letters, but the light in the studio was so weak that Joyce still could not read them. He therefore had to be prompted in a whisper throughout, his achievement being, as Ogden said, all the more remarkable.’ The 'Anna Livia Plurabelle' section, which would appear as the eighth chapter in book one, is regarded as one of the most beautiful prose poems in the English language and has earned the most critical praise of any portion of Finnegans Wake.
Further Information on the person
Profession:
(1882-1941) Irish novelist, short story writer, and poet - he contributed to the modernist avant-garde and is regarded as one of the most influential and important authors of the 20th century
Year of Birth: 1882
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce, known simply as James Joyce, was an Irish writer whose innovative prose style had a profound influence on modern literature. Born on February 2, 1882 in Dublin, Ireland, Joyce was the eldest of ten children in a middle-class family.
After completing his education at Clongowes Wood College and the Royal University of Ireland, Joyce left Dublin in 1904 to live in various European cities, including Paris, Trieste, and Zurich. It was during this time that he began work on his groundbreaking novel, "Ulysses."
Published in 1922, "Ulysses" is a masterful reimagining of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey, set in Dublin on a single day in 1904. The novel's stream-of-consciousness narrative style and experimental use of language make it one of the most important works of modernist literature.
Joyce's other major works include the semi-autobiographical novel "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" and the enigmatic masterpiece "Finnegans Wake." Despite his literary success, Joyce struggled with poor health and financial difficulties throughout his life.
James Joyce died on January 13, 1941 in Zurich, Switzerland, leaving behind a legacy of daring and inventive writing that continues to inspire readers and writers around the world. His work remains as relevant and provocative today as it was during his lifetime.
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