Pomes Penyeach. Shakespeare and Company, Paris, 1927. First Edition. Publisher’s pale green paper, title printed in dark green. With errata slip tipped-in at end. The binding is tight and square, with no cracking to the spine. The contents are in fine, bright condition throughout.

A remarkable survivor of this notoriously fragile edition. The binding retains its original pale green colour, unaffected by light which invariably fades these paper boards, turning them a pale tan. 

Joyce’s second book of poetry, a collection of thirteen poems published in July 1927. The title is a play on “poems” and the French “pommes” (apples), offered at “a penny each.”

Joyce reportedly chose the very pale green paper for the binding in honour of his favourite apple, the Carville, but unfortunately the paper tans in response to the briefest exposure to light. Copies in this untouched, unfaded condition are exceptionally scarce and highly desirable to collectors.

[Slocum & Cahoon A24].