First edition of Ulysses sells for over €100,000

A COPY of James Joyce’s masterpiece, Ulysses, yesterday sold for €107,000 at an auction in London.

The first edition fetched over twice its guide price at Sotheby’s sale of English Literature & History Books in New Bond Street.

British book trading firm, London Trade bought the literary work, which was put up for sale by an anonymous vendor.

“There was very competitive bidding as it made over twice its guide price of €50,000,” a Sotheby’s spokesman said.

Yesterday’s biannual sale also saw a copy of Joyce’s Dubliners make €7,300 and The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde €17,000.

Another Ulysses first edition signed by Joyce set a world record when it sold for €460,000 in Christie’s in New York in 2002.

Ulysses follows the travels of Leopold Bloom around Dublin during one day on June 16, 1904.

The novel, published in Paris in 1922, was initially banned by many countries.

In 1999, the Modern Library ranked Ulysses at No 1 on a list of the 100 best novels in English of the 20th century.