A book is being born in Dublin. Watch as “The Works of Master Poldy,” inspired by James Joyce’s Ulysses, takes shape on the printing presses at the National College of Art and Design’s Distillers Press at the hands of Jamie Murphy.
The printing, started in April, is nearly complete, then its off to the binders. The finished book is due this June from The Salvage Press, Dublin.
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Early this morning, Saturday, May 4, the curtain came down on our six-week Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for “The Works of Master Poldy,” the new limited edition letterpress book inspired by James Joyce’s Ulysses.
We raised nearly $10,000 (7449€) for Jamie Murphy of The Salvage Press Dublin to publish the artist’s book by Bloomsday of this year. Ninety-five individual contributions came in that boosted the campaign to 67% of our goal.
Jamie and I send out a HUGE thank you to everyone who supported the project to this stage. We will continue to post updates on the project and photos of progress being made on “Master Poldy” on our Indiegogo project website.
In other news about the project, we’re proud to announce that on June 6 an exhibition of “The Works of Master Poldy” will open at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. The exhibit will include spreads from the book along with the book itself and some of the type and tools used in creating it at The Distillers Press, National College of Art and Design. An opening reception is planned for 6.30 pm. — Steve Cole, Baltimore
Jamie Murphy and Steve Cole
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H. L. Mencken
One has to wonder if Irish author James Joyce would ever have attained his literary immortality were it not for a few faithful followers from Charm City.
H. L. Mencken, the ‘Sage of Baltimore’ so he was called, lead the charge in 1915. He single-handedly introduced American readers to the short stories from Joyce’s Dubliners by publishing a few in the magazine Smart Set. Then there was Baltimore-born Sylvia Beech, a bookshop owner in Paris, who stuck her neck way out in 1922 to publish the very first edition of Joyce’s controversial Ulysses.
Now another Baltimorean is backing Mr. Joyce, or, at the very least, his most famous character — Leopold Bloom, the hero of Ulysses. Steve Cole of Baltimore has conspired with a Dublin designer and printer, Jamie Murphy of The Salvage Press, to create a bound collection of Bloomisms they call “The Works of Master Poldy.” First ever so they say. But don’t believe me, read for yourself.
The two instigated an online fundraising scheme that comes to a close this week with a Raffle Drawing at Baltimore’s James Joyce Irish Pub & Restaurant (616 S. President St). You can enter the raffle at the James Joyce or on the pair’s fundraising website. The drawing is this Thursday, May 2 at 8:30 pm EDT, so there is no time to waste.
And here’s how the Raffle works and what you can win. I hear there will be pints and perks aplenty at the James Joyce. See you there Baltimore!
Back “Master Poldy” Now on Indiegogo — http://igg.me/at/Bloom
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