JOYCE, James.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Typed letter signed, to Jacob Schwartz. An unpublished letter sent to the future proprietor of the Ulysses Bookshop, enlisting him in the promotion of the Irish tenor John O'Sullivan. Joyce first heard the singer perform in October 1929 and was immediately enthralled by his powerful voice. Upon meeting, Joyce and O'Sullivan became friends and drinking companions, and Joyce worked tirelessly to help O'Sullivan achieve success. In early 1930, Joyce was struggling against a creative slump in his work on Finnegans Wake. Furthering O'Sullivan's career became an alternative pursuit; Joyce was himself an amateur tenor and regarded the singer as "a kind of alter ego" (Ellman, p. xlv). He attended as many performances as possible, always sitting in the front row and responding enthusiastically, and encouraged his friends and admirers to do the same. He also attempted to get the tenor noticed by music critics and potential patrons, such as Nancy Cunard's mother, who he mentions in the present letter: "I have written to Lady Cunard and she is sending over a person to hear Sullivan". Ultimately, few others were found who shared Joyce's enthusiasm for the singer, but he was immortalized as the character "Jean Souslevin" (i.e. "under the wine") in Finnegans Wake. Jacob Schwartz was "one of the first to recognize the market potential for letters and manuscripts of Joyce" (Brockman, p. 174). He met the writer in London in 1929 and shortly afterwards embarked on a journey to Dublin to purchas

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