 | |  |
29.
August 28th, 1911
Dear Mr. Joyce,
I am, naturally, interested in the letter which you are sending to the press and of which you have been kind enough to send me a copy. I don't think you quite realize a publisher's difficulties. But still . . . . . . . .
I have often thought of your work and if at any time you care, in spite
153
Joyce continued pressing Maunsel to publish until September,
1912, when Manusel's printer, Falconer, destroyed the one thousand copies
which he had run off, and Joyce acknowledged defeat. After trying many
other publishers, Joyce returned to Richards in desperation on 23 November
1913. Between the break with Richards in December 1907 and November
1913 when Joyce offered him Dubliners for the second time,
the
book had been rejected by at least ten publishers. In addition to Maunsel,
Joyce had failed with John Long (twice—once in Feb. 1907 and
again in
April 1913), Hutchinson & Co. (refused to see it in Feb. 1908), Alston
Rivers (would not see it in Feb. 1908), A. P. Watt (a literary agent
recommended to Joyce by Arthur Symons who refused to undertake
Dubliners in April 1908), Sisleys Limited (would publish it
if
Joyce helped finance — April 1908), Greening & Co. (rejected
it in
April 1908), Archibald Constable (April 1908), Edward Arnold (July 1908),
Martin Secker (Dec. 1912), and Elkin Mathews (the publisher of
Chamber Music, rejected Dubliners in March
1913).
Other publishers, whose rejections have not survived, no doubt swelled the
chorus.
| | |