Ulysses original to fetch £20k at auction

Author James Joyce

An original first edition copy of James Joyce's Ulysses is expected to fetch up to €25,000 (£20,000) at an auction in London later this week.

The book, which has a pencil signature of its owner Peter Mrosovsky on one of its pages, was smuggled out of Paris in 1922.

On two occasions, Lolita author Vladimir Nabokov recalled having passages of this copy read to him by Mrosovsky while at Trinity College Dublin.

Simon Roberts of Bonhams auction house, where the book will be sold, explained why any work produced by Joyce is so important.

"Many consider him one of the greatest literary figures," he said.

He added that Nabokov was strongly influenced by Joyce in his teachings, and the novelist considered Ulysses to be one of the three most important books of all time.

"Such a strong link between writers like Joyce and Nabokov is always important," he added.

The book is one of 150 large copies of the first edition and it will be available to purchase at Bonhams tomorrow, June 18, at 1pm.