{"id":315,"date":"2025-03-21T11:05:58","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T11:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joycefoundation.ch\/?p=315"},"modified":"2025-05-28T19:17:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T19:17:05","slug":"the-purrloined-letter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joycefoundation.ch\/de\/the-purrloined-letter\/","title":{"rendered":"The Purrloined Letter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Z\u00fcrich James Joyce Foundation wants to clarify a few facts surrounding a deluxe edition by Ithys Press of what is called \u201cThe Cats of Copenhagen.\u201d Its prospectus states: \u201cThe letter is among the many items donated to the Zurich James Joyce Foundation by Hans E. Jahnke, son of Giorgio Joyce\u2019s second wife, Asta. Nearly lost and forgotten, it is a joy to see this delightful story in print at last.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The letter is indeed among the holdings of the Z\u00fcrich Foundation, part of the generous \u201cJahnke Bequest\u201d of 2005. The donator, Hans E. Jahnke, stipulated that the original material (letters, notes and drafts, etc.) be made accessible to researchers. The Foundation has allowed serious bona fide scholars to inspect its documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Foundation is therefore all the more dismayed to learn that a copy of the letter to young Stephen Joyce of 1936 must have been used for its publication in book form. The Foundation was never approached or informed, it was never asked for permission. It is only now that the abuse has come to its notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is to state that the Z\u00fcrich James Joyce Foundation was left completely in the dark, it never permitted, tolerated, condoned or connived at this publication, and it rigidly dissociates itself from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Z\u00fcrich James Joyce Foundation\u2019s policy has been one of openness and trust and it would be reluctant in the future to regard visiting scholars and researchers with basic suspicion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Related Press Articles:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Killeen, Terence.\u00a0\u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/news\/joyce-children-s-story-published-in-dublin-to-dismay-in-z%C3%BCrich-1.459003\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Joyce Children\u2019s Story Published in Dublin to Dismay in Z\u00fcrich<\/a>\u201c.\u00a0<em>The Irish Times<\/em>, 8 Feb 2012.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Flood, Alison.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/books\/2012\/feb\/09\/james-joyce-childrens-story-cats-copenhagen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cJames Joyce Children\u2019s Story The Cats of Copenhagen Gets First Publication<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<em>The Guardian<\/em>, 9 Feb 2012.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/entertainment-arts-16982445\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cJames Joyce\u2019s Children\u2019s Book Sparks Feud.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0<em>BBC,\u00a0<\/em>10 Feb 2012.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cFrechheit siegt.\u201d\u00a0<em>Neue Z\u00fcrcher Zeitung<\/em>, 11 Feb 2012. (below)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Neue Z\u00fcrcher Zeitung &#8211; 11. Februar 2012<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Frechheit siegt<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ein Manuskript aus den Best\u00e4nden der Z\u00fcrcher James-Joyce-Stiftung wird als \u00abEntdeckung\u00bb publiziert<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">as. \u00b7 Die Geschichte entbehrt nicht der Ironie \u2013 freilich von der sauersten Sorte. \u00dcber Jahre hatte die restriktive Handhabung von James Joyce\u2019 literarischem Erbe durch Stephen J. Joyce, den Enkel des Schriftstellers, der Z\u00fcrcher James-Joyce-Stiftung Verdruss bereitet; umgekehrt besteht kein Zweifel am gener\u00f6sen Umgang dieser Institution mit ihren f\u00fcr Forscher und Interessierte frei zug\u00e4nglichen Best\u00e4nden \u2013 nicht zu reden von der Sachkompetenz, die Fritz Senn, der Leiter der Stiftung, und seine Mitarbeiterinnen bereit willig in den Dienst der \u00d6ffentlichkeit stellen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dank ebendieser Grossz\u00fcgigkeit erhielt auch Anastasia Herbert, Gr\u00fcnderin des im Oktober 2011 lancierten irischen Verlags Ithys Press, die Kopie einer kleinen Geschichte mit dem Titel \u00abThe Cats of Copenhagen\u00bb, die Joyce 1936 f\u00fcr seinen Enkel zu Papier gebracht hatte. Der Text geh\u00f6rt zu dem kostbaren Konvolut von Dokumenten \u2013 von Joyce verfasste Briefe und Postkarten, Notizen, Typoskripte, bearbeitete Druckfahnen, Briefe von Beckett und der Verlegerin Sylvia Beach \u2013, das der Stiftung 2005 von Hans E. Jahnke \u00fcberreicht worden war. Gem\u00e4ss dem Wunsch des Stifters und der Sitte des Hauses wurde dieses Material auch Aussenstehenden bona fide zug\u00e4nglich gemacht.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mrs. Herbert jedoch passte lediglich das Jahr 2012 ab, in dem die Rechte auf Joyce\u2019 Werke frei werden, um die \u00abCats of Copenhagen\u00bb als \u00abneu entdeckte Geschichte von James Joyce\u00bb in einem aufwendig gestalteten limitierten Privatdruck zu stolzen Preisen (1200 Euro f\u00fcr die Vorzugs-, 300 f\u00fcr die gew\u00f6hnliche Ausgabe) zu offerieren. Es wundert wenig, dass die \u00fcber das Projekt im Dunkeln gelassene Joyce-Stiftung verstimmt reagierte. Baff darf man hingegen \u00fcber den unversch\u00e4mten Ton der Replik Mrs. Herberts sein, die nicht einmal f\u00e4hig ist, den Namen der Institution richtig wiederzugeben. Das \u00abZurich Joyce Centre\u00bb \u00fcber das Vorhaben zu informieren, schreibt sie, w\u00e4re sinnlos gewesen und h\u00e4tte zu einer Verhinderung der Publikation bzw. \u00abirgendeiner billigen Art der Vorwegnahme\u00bb derselben f\u00fchren k\u00f6nnen. Von Fritz Senn \u2013 dem, es sei nochmals betont, Mrs. Herbert den Einblick in das Manuskript \u00fcberhaupt verdankt \u2013 heisst es, er \u00abposaune\u00bb seinen \u00abdiffamierenden\u00bb Protest herum; wer Senns liebensw\u00fcrdige, zur\u00fcckhaltende Art nur irgendwie kennt, wird das Groteske dieser Unterstellung nachvollziehen k\u00f6nnen. Billig und laut hat sich in dieser Angelegenheit nur eine Partei verhalten \u2013 und die sitzt nicht in Z\u00fcrich.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Z\u00fcrich James Joyce Foundation wants to clarify a few facts surrounding a deluxe edition by Ithys Press of what is called \u201cThe Cats of Copenhagen.\u201d Its prospectus states: \u201cThe letter is among the many items donated to the Zurich James Joyce Foundation by Hans E. Jahnke, son of Giorgio Joyce\u2019s second wife, Asta. Nearly [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jahnke-bequest"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joycefoundation.ch\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joycefoundation.ch\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joycefoundation.ch\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joycefoundation.ch\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joycefoundation.ch\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/joycefoundation.ch\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":316,"href":"https:\/\/joycefoundation.ch\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions\/316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joycefoundation.ch\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joycefoundation.ch\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joycefoundation.ch\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}