A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. by JOYCE, James - 1916

New York: B. W. Huebsch,, 1916. Octavo. Original blue cloth, gilt lettered spine, blind lettered front cover. Housed in a blue morocco backed slipcase and chemise. Very slight rubbing to ends and corners, two very minor white marks to front board, otherwise all sound and bright and generally in excellent condition. First edition, first printing, of Joyce's first novel and the essential prequel to Ulysses. This particularly attractive copy comes from the library of Alfred A. Knopf (1892-1984), a titan of American publishing, with his bookplate to the front pastedown, and the later bookplate of collector John Stuart Groves. Due at least in part to the hostile reaction to its serialization in The Egoist, no English printer would print the book for fear of prosecution under the obscenity laws. It was Huebsch who undertook the true first publication in book form, on 29 December 1916. He reserved from his print run about 750 sets of sheets for issue in the UK the following February. Although the number of copies originally issued in America is unknown, it is unlikely to have been large since Huebsch had sold out by March 1917 and called for a second printing by April. Slocum & Cahoon A11.