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First edition of the author's first obtainable separate publication, a plea for the freedom of the theatre, published when he was 19. This copy is from the library of the 3rd Viscount Esher, Oliver Brett (1881-1963), with his bookplate on the chemise. Joyce was a student at University College, Dublin in 1901 when he penned The Day of the Rabblement. The essay, and one advocating female equality within the university by Joyce's schoolmate F. J. C. Skeffington (A Forgotten Aspect of the University Question), were both rejected by the University College newspaper. In the case of Joyce's essay, this was because he mentioned D'Annunzio's Il Fuoce, which was on the Index librorum prohibitorum, while Skeffington's essay was rejected owing to its radical content. Instead, the two paid to have the essays published as a pamphlet in a small run which they hand-delivered. The exact number of copies printed is not recorded but was surely small. The figure cited in the 1933 Catalogue of Rare Books by the Ulysses Bookshop is as low as 85, while Skeffington's son estimated a run of around 100 to 200 copies (Slocum & Cahoon). Only a small number of these were preserved, since Joyce did not reach any degree of literary fame for many years. In the essay, Joyce attacks the Irish theatre for catering to popular tastes and promotes free expression. "Joyce was stirred by a group of fellow university students the 'rabble' of the title signing a letter of protest on political and religious grounds against the Irish Literary Theatre's first performance of The Countess Cathleen by W B Yeats. Joyce critiques the Irish Literary Theatre for its response to the protest which, Joyce claims, saw them bow to public pressure and 'prejudice', and become 'shy of presenting Ibsen, Tolstoy or Hauptmann'. In Joyce's opinion, the work of these three European writers was profound, innovative and worthy of attention. Significantly, the essay shows Joyce upholding the principle of artistic freedom and condemning censorship in all its forms an outlook that he would maintain throughout his career" (British Library, 'The Day of the Rabblement'). Joyce's only previously published works were Et Tu, Healy!, a pamphlet printed by his father when he was aged nine, of which no known copies survive, and an article on Ibsen included in the Fortnightly Review, April 1900. Slocum & Cahoon B1. Octavo, 8 pp. Original pink wrappers printed in black. Housed in a custom yellow cloth chemise. Front wrapper slightly toned at edges, rear wrapper browned, else clean. A very good copy.
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