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9 BECKETT, Samuel (his copy) – HAYMAN, David. Ulysses: The Mechanics of Meaning. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1970 The acclaimed commentary on Ulysses , inscribed to Joyce’s disciple and amanuensis First edition, first impression, inscribed by the author to Samuel Beckett, who was Joyce’s amanuensis during the writing of Finnegans Wake , on the front free endpaper, “For Sam Beckett, from whose first letter to me I quote: ‘in Joyce the form of judgement more and more devoured its gist and the saying of all the saying of anything, in a way more consistent with Bruno’s identification of contraries than with the intellectualism of Mallarmé.’ Is the present position (mine) more to your liking? It is of course a blend. Warmly, David Sept ‘70. P. S. I hope yr eyes permit you to read this”. In a significant letter to James Knowlson, Beckett wrote of Joyce’s powerful “influence ab contrario ” on him as a writer: “I realized that Joyce had gone as far as one could in the direction of knowing more, in control of one’s material. He was always adding to it; you only have to look at his proofs to see that. I realised that my own way was impoverishment, in lack of knowledge and in taking away, subtracting rather than adding . . . I had a great admiration for him. That’s what it was: epic, heroic, what he achieved. I realized that I couldn’t go down that same road.” David Hayman is a literary critic and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who participated in the publication of Joyce’s complete manuscripts and has also written a number of essays on Beckett’s works. Octavo. Original black cloth, titles to spine in silver. With dust jacket. An excellent copy in the lightly rubbed and toned jacket. £1,500 [158487] 10 BELL, Clive. The Legend of Monte Della Sibilla, or Le Paradis de la Reine Sibille. Richmond: Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, 1923 Unrequited amour: Bell’s original ode to the star of the Ballets Russes First edition, first impression, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper to Lydia Lopokova, “Clive Bell. August 24 1941. A la Sibilla de nos jours, Clive” (“de nos jours” partially erased but legible), with the original autograph final draft of his 19-line poem “To Lopokova Dancing”, a rich expression of the romantic yearning Bell felt for her. Lopokova (1892–1981) was the leading ballerina of Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes. She first appeared in London in 1918, when she danced in Massine’s The Good-Humoured Ladies (“Le donne de buon umore”). The following year she danced a raucous can-can alongside Massine in the world premiere of The Magic Toyshop (“La Boutique fantasque”). During his brief balletomane phase, Bell was smitten by her, as is evident from his poem. In July 1919 he praised her in a New Republic article as “the finest danseuse that this generation has seen . . . not only a genuine artist but a brilliant executant”, contrasting Lopokova’s “true artist” to Tamara Karsavina’s mere “actress”, and comparing her “deliciously gay temperament” to Mozart and Fra Angelico. All this was calculated to flatter, and Bell, ever the womanizer, made a spirited attempt at seduction. Though he was unsuccessful, and Lopokova married John Maynard Keynes in 1925, the two remained

friends and correspondents throughout their lives. This later inscription dates from the period when Lopokova was nursing Keynes in his ill health. This title is uncommon in the jacket, and rare inscribed. The manuscript has three textual corrections, with the published text matching the corrections made here. Signed by the poet, it has the additional presentation inscription “from Clive Bell. 46. Gordon Square. London. W.C.1”. It also bears an earlier initial “C.B.” below the text and an earlier location “Garsington. Oxford” inked out, suggesting perhaps the original location of the poem’s composition. Bell lived at 46 Gordon Square from 1922 to 1929. The poem was composed in 1918 and published in Poems (1921). Quarto. Original white boards, front cover illustrated and lettered in black. With dust jacket. With 1 sheet autograph poem signed. Front cover designed by Vanessa Bell; frontispiece, head- and tailpieces by Duncan Grant. Spine ends chipped, extremities a little toned and worn, trivial eraser abrasions to front endpapers, a few gutters cracked but firm, very occasional foxing. A very good copy in like jacket, lightly soiled and toned with a little foxing to front panel, edges chipped and nicked, short closed tears to spine, 4 cm closed tear to head. Poem folded twice, small damp stain to verso, nick to foot and a few trivial marks, abrasion from eraser to top right corner, two short closed tears to top left corner, not affecting text, one tiny closed tear to line 7. ¶ Woolmer 27. £4,500 [158195]

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