#robert ballagh

It’s Fine Press Friday!

This copy of James Joyce’s, Dubliners, with introduction by American academic Thomas Flanagan and photogravures by Irish artist Robert Ballagh (b.1943), was published in 1986 by the Limited Editions Club (LEC), New York, in an edition of one thousand copies signed by Flanagan and Ballagh. It was in 1905 that Joyce first took his manuscript to a publisher, although he had a lot of difficulty finding someone to print his book. After many rejections a publisher accepted but demanded changes, resulting in the termination of their agreement. This drama continued for years until the book was finally published in 1914 by Grant Richards Ltd., London. 

Dubliners is a collection of fifteen short stories that is a portrait of Dublin during a time when Irish nationalism was at its height. Joyce used his own family, friends, and acquaintances to depict the people of Dublin “in all their uniqueness, their generosity, and love of music, as well as their moral confusion and psychic paralysis” (LEC Letter number 547). This psychic and moral paralysis stems from the long history of Ireland’s subordination to British rule. 

Robert Ballagh was born and raised in Dublin and shares Joyce’s fascination with his city. His six photogravures express the sense of isolation and paralysis that exists within the stories. They are velvety and still, and rest alone in the center of the page. They themselves are isolated by the many pages of text that exist between it and the next image.

The type design also illustrates a sense of isolation, with each short story beginning with a title in a single line on the right resting in the expanse of an empty page spread, and after turning the page, another blank page, and opposite to it the beginning of the text with no header, but space for one.  

The type was printed at Wild Carrot Letterpress and Heritage Printers. The text was set in Monotype Scotch by Dan Carr and Julia Ferrari at Golgonooza Letter Foundry. Benjamin Schiff, son of then LEC owner Sidney Schiff, designed the book. The photogravure plates were made by Jon Goodman and printed by Bruce Chandler, Peter Pettengill, Catherine Mosely and Greta Lintvedt. The paper was made at Cartiere Enrico Magnani. The book was hand sewn and bound at the Jovonis Bookbindery in West Springfield, Massachusetts. Our copy is a gift form our friend Jerry Buff.

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