Taking the Literary Pulse: Psychological Studies of Life and Letters.

First edition of this work analyzing modern authors and their literary characters through a psychological lens. Octavo, original publisher's red cloth, illustrated with tipped in plates. Association copy, inscribed by the author to fellow writer James Joyce on the front free endpaper, "James Joyce with the writers compliments Joseph Collins." The recipient, James Joyce was an Irish modernist writer whose novel Ulysses (1922) is widely regarded as one of the most influential works of twentieth-century literature. Set in Dublin over the course of a single day, the novel employs innovative narrative techniques—most notably stream of consciousness—to explore the inner lives of its characters while drawing structural parallels to Homer’s Odyssey. Joseph Collins was the first person to review Ulysses for the New York Times after Joyce lent Collins the Little Review installments of Ulysses. Collins groaned to Nutting the next day, "I have in my files writing by the insane just as good as this," and gave a medical explanation of the deterioration of the artist's brain. Later on, however, he began to think better of the book. Joyce even had Molly Bloom memorialize Collins's manner in Ulysses: "Floey made me go to that dry old stick Dr Collins for womens diseases on Pembroke road... I wouldn't trust him too far to give me chloroform or God knows what else still I liked him when he sat down to write..." (Richard Ellman, James Joyce, page 516). In very good condition. An exceptional association.