Joyce, James.

top copy in black ink, with autograph additions in black ink and two genealogies of "finn" on two separate sheets, with revisions and corrections in the hand of joyce's close friend, advisor and occasional amanuensis Paul Léon (as authorised by Joyce), 43 pages (195 x 260mm.),  [chiefly Paris, 1936-37], some occasional light browning or spotting at edges, a few slight creases



a previously unrecorded and unknown set of of typescripts from the climactic period of the compostion of "finnegans wake":



manuscripts or typescripts of finnegans wake are exceedingly rare in private hands: since 1976 only one other significant typescript of Finnegans Wake has appeared at auction  (comprising 28 leaves, dating from December 1926, sold at Christie's on 18 February 1976, lot 215).



Joyce devoted  an immense span of time to the writing of Finnegans Wake, as is testified by the closing words "paris , | 1922-1939". The vast majority of the materials (manuscripts, fair copies, typescripts, proofs etc) created by him over this period are held in public libraries, chiefly at the Poetry Collection at the University of Buffalo, State University of New York and the British Library, with smaller holdings at other depositories in America and Europe, now also including the Zurich Joyce Foundation.



During 1936 and 1937 -- the period of the present typescript --  Joyce was working with fair copies of his revised drafts, and then employing various typists (sometimes professionals, sometimes friends), to prepare typescripts. The present grouping comprises:



A. 5pp. typescript
1) a 3-page duplicate (possibly top), unmarked copy of the second typescript of section 2 of what will be published as Finnegans Wake II.3 (pp. 332.01–337.03; James Joyce Archive Draft Code: II.3§2.2'), with a preliminary version of a genealogy/family tree of Finn, King of Leinster on the verso of the third page, in Joyce's hand in black ink
2) a later, more expansive genealogy/family tree, with further notes, also in Joyce's hand in black ink; and
3) a blank page. 
all unruled plain paper, the three typescript sheets paginated "25", "26" and "27" in the upper right corner of the recto pages in type, versos of pp. 25 and 26 blank



This typescript was prepared in December 1936. A heavily revised and expanded copy of this same typescript is part of the Harriet Shaw Weaver/James Joyce Collection at the British Library (BL ADD MSS 47479, fs. 189v–195r; JJA Draft Code II.3§2.2; see JJA vol. 54, pp. 309–317). Presumably given the complexity of the alterations made on the British Library copy and the problems this would have caused the typist(s) Joyce relied on, he copied out the next version in his own hand (BL ADD MSS 47479, fs. 199r–206r; JJA Draft Code II.3§2.*3).



The genealogies of "Finn" on the verso of p. 27 and on the separate page appear to be based on reading notes, the source or sources of which have not been identified. graphical sketches of this kind in joyce's hand are unusual and exceptional.



B. 38pp. typescript, a later version of II.3§2 that is now integrated with II.3§§3, 4 and 6,[1] (Finnegans Wake, pp. 332.01–354.06 and 355.08–370.29; JJA Draft Code of this typescript is: II.3§§2.4'/3.3'/4.3'/6.3'). This typescript is lightly revised by Joyce and by Paul Léon (based on Joyce's instructions) in black ink and pencil. There is a lengthy addition in Joyce's hand on p. 13v (this was later copied by Léon on BL 47479, f. 221v, where it is crossed out, and then again on BL 47480, f. 22v).
all unruled plain paper, some sheets are of heavier weight stock than the rest (for example, pp. 28 and 29 and 32–38), a mixed typescript copy, pages paginated"1"–"38" in the lower right corner in an unidentified hand in pencil (the British Library copy is similarly paginated in the same hand in pencil).



This typescript was prepared in 1937. A heavily revised and expanded copy is part of the Harriet Shaw Weaver/James Joyce Collection at the British Library (BL ADD MSS 47479, fs. 210r–219r / 220r–221r / BL 47480, fs. 22r–35v / fs. 180v–192r; see JJA 54.344–363, 55.040–068 and 55.308–193).



David Hayman has written of Finnegans Wake II.3 that, " 'The Pub' is the longest, most demanding, and for some readers the most rewarding chapter in the Wake. Structurally, it may also be the best conceived; it is certainly the most dramatic and the most complexly plotted" (JJA 54.ix) and here we see it at a significant transitional phase before Joyce added many of the defining elements of the chapter as we know it from in Finnegans Wake. 



a highly significant discovery.

Luca Crispi and Sam Slote, editors, How Joyce Wrote Finnegans Wake. A Chapter-by-Chapter Guide, University of Wisconsin Press, 2007
Michael Groden et al, editors. The James Joyce Archive, New York: Garland Publishing, 1978-79

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a previously unrecorded and unknown set of of typescripts from the climactic period of the compostion of "finnegans wake":

Joyce devoted  an immense span of time to the writing of Finnegans Wake, as is testified by the closing words "paris , | 1922-1939". The survival of many thousands of pages of the textual record of the book (in the form of early and later manusript drafts, fair copies, typescripts,  proofs and revised printings) has afforded scholars "an unparalleled opportunity for the critical study of its author's creative processes" (Crispi and Slote, introduction to How Joyce Wrote Finnegans Wake), as he worked on an almost daily basis between 1 November 1922 to 28 August 1940 to write his ground-breaking and defining work. However, the vast majority of all these materials are held in public libraries, chiefly at the Poetry Collection at the University of Buffalo, State University of New York and the British Library, with smaller holdings at other depositories in America and Europe, now also including the Zurich Joyce Foundation.

manuscripts or typescripts of finnegans wake are exceedingly rare in private hands: since 1976 only one other significant typescript of Finnegans Wake has appeared at auction  (comprising 28 leaves, dating from December 1926, sold at Christie's on 18 February 1976, lot 215).

During 1936 and 1937 -- the period of the present typescript --  Joyce was working with fair copies of his revised drafts, and then employing various typists (sometimes professionals, sometimes friends), to prepare typescripts. "Once a clean typescript was prepared [as here], Joyce compulsively revised it, sometome for a further typescript or yet another fair copy but ultimately for a printer" (op.cit.)

The present grouping is comprised of two separate, though related typescripts:

A. The first typescript unit is composed of 5 pages:
1) a 3-page duplicate (possibly top), unmarked copy of the second typescript of section 2 of what will be published as Finnegans Wake II.3 (pp. 332.01–337.03; James Joyce Archive Draft Code: II.3§2.2'), with a preliminary version of a genealogy/family tree of Finn, King of Leinster on the verso of the third page, in Joyce's hand in black ink
2) a later, more expansive genealogy/family tree, with further notes, also in Joyce's hand in black ink; and
3) a blank page. 
all unruled plain paper, the three typescript sheets paginated "25", "26" and "27" in the upper right corner of the recto pages in type, versos of pp. 25 and 26 blank

This typescript was prepared in December 1936. A heavily revised and expanded copy of this same typescript is part of the Harriet Shaw Weaver/James Joyce Collection at the British Library (BL ADD MSS 47479, fs. 189v–195r; JJA Draft Code II.3§2.2; see JJA vol. 54, pp. 309–317). Presumably given the complexity of the alterations made on the British Library copy and the problems this would have caused the typist(s) Joyce relied on, he copied out the next version in his own hand (BL ADD MSS 47479, fs. 199r–206r; JJA Draft Code II.3§2.*3).

The genealogies of "Finn" on the verso of p. 27 and on the separate page appear to be based on reading notes, the source or sources of which have not been identified. graphical sketches of this kind in joyce's hand are unusual and exceptional.

B. The second typescript unit is composed of 38 pages: it is a later version of II.3§2 that is now integrated with II.3§§3, 4 and 6,[1] (Finnegans Wake, pp. 332.01–354.06 and 355.08–370.29; JJA Draft Code of this typescript is: II.3§§2.4'/3.3'/4.3'/6.3'). This typescript is lightly revised by Joyce and by Paul Léon (based on Joyce's instructions) in black ink and pencil. There is a lengthy addition in Joyce's hand on p. 13v (this was later copied by Léon on BL 47479, f. 221v, where it is crossed out, and then again on BL 47480, f. 22v).
all unruled plain paper, some sheets are of heavier weight stock than the rest (for example, pp. 28 and 29 and 32–38), a mixed typescript copy, pages paginated"1"–"38" in the lower right corner in an unidentified hand in pencil (the British Library copy is similarly paginated in the same hand in pencil).

This typescript was prepared in 1937. A heavily revised and expanded copy is part of the Harriet Shaw Weaver/James Joyce Collection at the British Library (BL ADD MSS 47479, fs. 210r–219r / 220r–221r / BL 47480, fs. 22r–35v / fs. 180v–192r; see JJA 54.344–363, 55.040–068 and 55.308–193).

David Hayman has written of Finnegans Wake II.3 that, " 'The Pub' is the longest, most demanding, and for some readers the most rewarding chapter in the Wake. Structurally, it may also be the best conceived; it is certainly the most dramatic and the most complexly plotted" (JJA 54.ix) and here we see it at a significant transitional phase before Joyce added many of the defining elements of the chapter as we know it from in Finnegans Wake. 

a highly significant discovery.