James Joyce’s magnum opus Ulysses is set on a single day, June 16th 1904, in Dublin, the capital of Ireland where the author was born and attended University College Dublin. Bloomsday is named after his novel’s protagonist Leopold Bloom, who over the course of this one day wanders the city streets, described by Joyce with Bloom's interior monologue, a pioneering, modernist style of writing at the time.
The Princess Grace Irish Library has a rare first edition of Ulysses. Our copy is numbered #312 out of 1,000 printed on handmade paper and published on 02/02/1922, not in Dublin but in Paris by Shakespeare and Company, an English-language book shop owned by American ex-pat Sylvia Beach who had met Joyce at a party in Paris.
This Bloomsday we are delighted to have a special display thanks to Michael Flatley lending us his unique editions of Ulysses and a collection of culturally important memorabilia, which belonged to James Joyce - see below. The display will continue until just after Heritage Day (La Journée du Patrimoine) 15th September 2024. You are welcome to visit us - Opening times HERE
We are grateful to Michael Flatley for the loan of his collection of important, cultural memorabilia, which belonged to James Joyce.
On display at the Princess Grace Irish Library:
• James Joyce’s silver cigarette case, his magnifying glasses and a bronze medal that he won in the 1904 Feis Ceoil (singing festival) in Ireland. Joyce was also an accomplished tenor and musician.
• A first edition copy N° 253 of Ulysses (1922)
• A limited-edition copy of Ulysses (1935) illustrated by Henri Matisse and signed by both the artist and the writer James Joyce.
Bloomsday 2024 in Monaco
What a lovely literary afternoon at the Princess Grace Irish Library, followed by dramatic readings beside the Prince's Palace and other locations in Monaco-ville. And what fun to frolick through the streets singing Molly Malone to the enjoyment of all the tourists! We are sincerely grateful to H.S.H. Prince Albert II for permitting us to celebrate Ireland's most famous writer James Joyce in the Principality.
For photo gallery look to the left.
Huge thanks to the talented actors from the Monaco-Ireland Arts Society. Their performances were fantastic and we all learnt a little bit more about Ulysses! And although we heard a rumble of thunder in the distance the rain held off! Perhaps Joyce was expressing his approval.
A special thank you to Michael Flatley for this year's unique display of James Joyce memorabilia and limited editions of Ulysses, kindly on loan from his private collection.
The annual event has become a not-to-miss cultural event in Monaco to celebrate James Joyce's modernist masterpiece.
Bloomsday events in Dublin
The James Joyce Centre - details HERE
The James Joyce Martello Tower - details HERE
As part of the Bloomsday celebrations actors re-enacted scenes from Ulysses and Joyce's other famous book Dubliners, a collection of short stories, published in 1914. Many of the characters in Dubliners later appear in minor roles in Ulysses. The novel is set in Dublin on a single day, June 16th 1904, the day that Joyce first went out with his muse and future wife Nora Barnacle, a young woman from Galway. We also enjoyed a reading from the book by American ex-pat, Sylvia Beach's autobiographical account of meeting James Joyce in Paris and agreeing to publish Ulysses on 2nd February, 1922 (Joyce's 40th birthday).
Joyce aficionados celebrate his novel in which the author aimed to
“give a picture of Dublin so complete that if the city one day suddenly disappeared from the earth it could be reconstructed out of my book.”
The library is very grateful to Michael Flatley for the kind loan of his collection of cultural important memorabilia, which belonged to James Joyce, including a limited-edition copy of Ulysses illustrated by Henri Matisse and siged by both the writer and the artist (photo above & below).
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