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James Joyce's commas in Ulysses

New: Joyce's capitals; Joyce's typists; Joyce's deletions, compounds, other punctuation

My view is that Joyce had a blindspot about placement of commas, and that these should be corrected when it improves the poetry of the line. It's as if, when he composed in his head, he heard the words without seeing the punctuation, and had to see it in print to notice problems.

Generally (as with all punctuation), he tried to do without a comma if he could. When expressing stream of consciousness, commas usually make the voice more self-conscious and 'awake', and removing them makes it more intimate and vulnerable. In Eumeus, though, commas are added in abundance to suggest fumbling and making wrong turns.

Gabler claims that printers added 600 commas to Portrait: [article]

Ellmann p731 has Joyce in April 1940 saying he's revising FW: "I'm adding commas." This is surely a joke or a mishearing, because the missing commas were in Ulysses-Penelope, not FW.

1.255 "dancecards, powdered"

J's notes make it clear the cards are powdered (not the fans)

1.271/10.18 "her breath bent"

G restored J's comma (again missing in the Egoist) but I prefer this version.

1.333 "But, hush!"

G restores an unwelcome comma, again not in the Egoist.

1.449/15.15 "him smiling"

G restores an unwelcome comma, again not in the Egoist.

1.575 "mailboat, vague on the bright skyline, and a sail"

G deletes the commas

1.653 "Symbol of the apostles in the mass for pope Marcellus, the voices blended, singing alone loud in affirmation"

ambiguous comma after 'alone'

1.680 "near him moved"

J included an unhappy comma after 'him'

1.730 "path, and"

J omitted a desirable comma here

2.98 "A riddle, sir?"

maybe no comma

2.170 "stony, sit"

G opts not to restore comma from Little Review

2.171 "tyrants willing"

G restores unneeded comma

2.303 "He saw their speeds, backing king's colours, and shouted with the shouts of vanished crowds."

J added commas

2.319 "-- Now then, Mr Deasy said, rising."

J added 2nd comma

2.343 "intrigues, by"

G rejects expected comma

2.386 "-- A shout in the street, Stephen answered, shrugging his shoulders."

J added comma

3.65 "O weeping"

G restores ms comma

3.115 "footpace, (descende!) clutching"

no comma needed

3.126 "transept, (he is lifting his)"

no comma needed

3.227 "AE pimander"

this (dubious) restoration reads a little better with no comma here

3.254 "Peachy cheeks, a zebra skirt, frisky as a young thing's."

ms lacks comma after skirt

3.277 "tower entombing"

G restores unneeded ms comma

3.368 "That was the rule, said."

no comma in ms

3.374 "Behind her lord his helpmate"

J added unneeded comma after lord

3.421 "Darkness is in our souls do you not think?"

maybe comma after souls

3.455 "passing chafing"

G reverts (?) to comma

3.470 "one he"

G reverts to unneeded ms comma

3.476 "A quiver of minnows, fat of a spongy titbit, flash through the slits of his buttoned trouserfly."

ms lacks comma after minnows

4.21 "kindly, the"

G reverts to ms no-comma

4.77 "He crossed to the bright side, avoiding the loose cellarflap"

J added comma

4.80 "reflects (refracts is it?) the heat"

J fixed unneeded comma before 'the'

4.84 "travel round in front of the sun, steal a day's march on him"

J added comma

4.89 "crosslegged smoking"

G restores J's ambiguous comma

4.141 "The figures whitened in his mind, unsolved"

J added comma

4.142 "The shiny links packed with forcemeat fed his gaze"

J let two commas be deleted

4.150 "She does whack it, by George."

J added comma

4.224 "A bent hag crossed from Cassidy's, clutching a naggin bottle by the neck."

J added comma

4.278 "He sprinkled it through his fingers, ringwise, from the chipped eggcup."

G rejects commas

4.376 "What they called nymphs, for example."

J added comma

4.505 "pounds thirteen"

G reverts to unneeded comma

4.508 "patiently, that"

G reverts to ms no-comma

4.520 "Biting her nether lip, hooking the placket of her skirt."

J added comma

4.534 "then black"

G reverts to unneeded colon

5.62 "Flower, Esq"

G rejects comma

5.99 "She stood still, waiting, while the man, husband, brother, like her, searched his pockets for change."

ms lacked comma after 'her'

5.109 "Doran, Lyons"

G rejects helpful comma

5.142 "O yes... O well"

G reverts to unneeded commas

5.151 "in the Ulster hall, Belfast, on the twentyfifth"

ms lacked commas

5.208 "O dear! O dear! "

G restores commas

5.273 "afraid of words, of course"

ms lacked comma

5.295 "The other one, jar on her head, was getting the supper"

J added commas

5.302 "flutter then"

G reverts to (unpoetic) comma

5.373 "I have sinned: or no: I have suffered, it is."

J added comma

5.384 "O no she's"

G restores two commas

5.385 "way did"

G restores unneeded comma

5.406 "too chanting"

G innovates plausible comma

5.420 "-- O God, our refuge and our strength..."

ms lacks comma

5.423 "Joseph her"

G restores unneeded comma

5.445 "(may God restrain him, we humbly pray)"

J added comma

6.78 "she was at the window, watching the two dogs at it"

ms lacked comma

6.81 "God, I'm dying for it."

ms lacked comma

6.131 "My boots were creaking I remember now."

ms had comma, probably lost via typo

6.144 "-- O draw him out, Martin, Mr Power said eagerly."

ms had comma after O

6.156 "Later on, please."

ms lacked comma

6.176 "Couldn't they invent something automatic, so that the wheel itself, much handier?"

J removed commas

6.181 "People in law perhaps."

comma added after law

6.213 "-- O, very well, Mr Bloom said."

comma lost post-ms

6.224 "-- And madame, Mr Power said smiling."

comma added after said

6.297 "-- Ah, then indeed, he said"

G rejects comma after Ah

6.326 "A dwarf's face, mauve and wrinkled like little Rudy's was."

comma lost post-ms

6.392 "Thursday of course."

comma lost post-ms

6.405 "-- Yes, Mr Bloom said, and another thing I often thought, is to have municipal funeral trams"

comma after thought lost post-ms

6.409 "-- O, that be damned for a story, Mr Dedalus said."

comma lost after O post-ms

6.433 "He would and he wouldn't, I suppose."

no comma in ms

6.440 "barge between"

G restores unneeded comma

6.450 "Dropping down lock by lock to Dublin."

comma added after down

6.456 "Left him weeping I suppose."

ms had comma

6.464 "On the curbstone before Jimmy Geary the sexton's an old tramp sat"

commas lost around 'the sexton's'

6.574 "Mr Bloom stood behind the boy with the wreath, looking down at his sleek combed hair"

ms lacked comma

6.589 "A server, bearing a brass bucket with something in it, came out through a door."

ms lacked commas

6.590 "The whitesmocked priest came after him, tidying his stole with one hand"

comma lost post-ms

6.608 "Butchers for instance: they get like raw beefsteaks."

ms had comma after Butchers

6.620 "After that of course..."

ms had comma after 'that'

6.635 "Mr Bloom came last, folding his paper again into his pocket."

ms lacked comma

6.661 "Mr Bloom nodded gravely, looking in the quick bloodshot eyes."

ms lacked comma

6.662 "Mason, I think: not sure."

ms lacked comma

6.665 "-- The service of the Irish church, used in Mount Jerome, is simpler, more impressive, I must say."

three commas added post-ms

6.710 "-- John O'Connell, Mr Power said, pleased."

ms lacked comma

6.715 "he walked on at Martin Cunningham's side, puzzling two long keys at his back."

ms lacked comma

6.755 "Have you ever seen a ghost? Well, I have."

J added comma

6.777 "Turning green and pink, decomposing."

ms lacked comma

6.810 "No ants"

G imposes happy comma, crediting Dalton

6.843 "Well it"

G restores unneeded comma

6.895 "said, scribbling... slowly, without"

G rejects happy commas

G reverts to comma

6.1018 "said, pointing"

G rejects comma

6.1029 "finger without"

G restores unneeded comma

7.89 "weekly not"

G innovates a plausible but not necessary comma

7.245 "banks fanned"

unneeded comma here

7.530 "answered, blushing"

G rejects comma

7.635 "said, turning"

G rejects comma

7.795 "days) advocating"

G accepts J's unneeded comma

7.802 "a sweet thing in a child's frock, Myles Crawford said."

G's note explaining why he puts Fitzgibbon back in the frock is wonderfully fatuous

7.805 "diction, I"

G rejects interesting comma

7.879 "said, uncontradicted"

G perversely rejects comma

7.901 "pocket, pulling... said, nodding... said, throwing"

G rejects happy commas

8.1 "throne, sucking"

G reverts to no-comma

8.13 "Dowie, restorer... Zion, is"

G opts for no-commas

8.47 "porter, wonderful"

G rejects needed comma

8.50 "Well of course"

G perversely restores commas

8.76 "silently two, then all, from"

G reverts to comma after silently, none after all. the typescript shows a comma deleted (by someone) after silently, with a curlicue in the margin that I think means B-for-blank/blanc

8.83 "wheeled, flapping"

G rejects happy comma

8.85 "turkey, say,"

G rejects commas

8.159 "died, yes that's right,"

G rejects happy commas

8.199 "two, taking"

G rejects comma

8.213 "black, I see. You have no...?"

I accept G's comma and qmark as typist oversights (!?)

8.217 "O dear me"

G restores unneeded comma after O

8.295 "river, staring"

G rejects happy comma

8.303 "said, smiling"

G rejects happy comma

8.321 "house, I"

G quietly reverts to no-comma

8.383 "establishments, whole thing quite painless, out"

G rejects happy ms commas, 1922 had unhappy period-cap-no-comma

8.385 "pounds, multiply... system, encourage... sum, more"

G quietly rejects commas

8.412 "railings, making"

G reverts to no-comma

8.492 "houses, built"

G reverts to no-comma

8.527 "poet Mr Geo"

G restores unneeded comma and period

8.554 "lenses, six"

G rejects sD comma

8.571 "it, that"

G rejects sD's comma

8.583 "rock like"

G reverts to unneeded comma, overriding "a1"

8.593 "walking, passed"

G rejects comma

8.612 "home, you"

G rejects comma pleading "e"

8.615 "silk dames and dowagers"

1922 has a comma after silk, G opts for silkdames

8.641 "Jingling hoofthuds"

G restores plausible comma

8.707 "children, cabmen, priests, parsons, fieldmarshals, archbishops"

G rejects commas (sD's from priests on)

8.721 "garlic of course it stinks Italian organgrinders crisp of onions, mushrooms, truffles"

1922 wraps 'of course' in commas (where from?); G rejects all commas, overriding "a1" for last two (1922 lost the last??)

8.754 "Eat, drink"

G quietly reverts to no-comma

8.819 "disgust, pungent"

G rejects sD's much-needed comma

8.825 "It ruined many a man the same horses."

G restores ms comma after 'man' but Niall Montgomery (in 1951) singled out "the precision of the dropped comma" here, and Kenner made this the only point on which he questioned Gabler's judgment

8.843 "champing standing"

G reverts to unhappy comma

8.873 "course, aristocrats. Then"

G rejects sD, reverting to 'course aristocrats, then'

8.880 "sturgeon. High sheriff, Coffey the"

G rejects cap-H (sD) and period (printer?) even though J amended the sentence without correcting period-cap. I'm deleting the unneeded comma after Coffey (pleading "j")

8.890 "Du, de la, French."

1926 has comma after 'de'; G silently rejects commas

8.891 "fish, perhaps old Micky Hanlon of Moore street ripped the guts out of making money, hand over fist, finger in fishes' gills, can't write his name on a cheque, think"

G rejects all commas, some sD

8.909 "Soft, warm, sticky... gods, golden"

G rejects sD commas

8.927 "Nectar, imagine"

G silently rejects comma

8.1039 "echo the"

I accept Dalton's de-comma here

8.1045 "closestools, waiting, in"

G overrides "a1" to revert to no commas

8.1048 "body, changing biliary duct, spleen squirting liver, gastric"

G rejects commas (sD and a1)

8.1057 "ten, about"

G rejects happy sD comma

8.1097 "hand his"

G restores unhappy comma

8.1149 "Pity of "

G restores plausible comma

8.1192 "Ah, soap"

G rejects happy "a6" comma!??

9.7 "A noiseless attendant, setting open the door but slightly, made him a noiseless beck."

G reverts to no-commas

9.29 "Glittereyed, his... face,"

G de-commas

9.97 "public."

G reverts to comma

9.170 "spirit"

G reverts to ms comma

9.177 "twin)"

G imposes strictly-needed comma

9.284 "god he"

G restores unneeded comma

9.303 "thing, genius"

G reverts to no-comma

9.337 "treeforks from"

G imposes unneeded comma, pleading "e"!?!

9.362 "mean I"

G restores unneeded comma

9.373 "eyes, glinting"

G reverts to no-comma

9.406 "girl placed"

G restores unneeded comma

9.444 "rejected, such"

G dismisses happy comma without comment

9.485 "forward then, blithe"

J misplaced comma after forward

9.493 "begot, middler the Holy Ghost, and"

G reverts to no-commas, overriding "a1"

9.528 "hues the colour"

G restores unneeded comma after hues

9.600 "Or please"

G restores ms comma

9.626 "feudalism as"

I accept G's reversion to ms no-comma

9.640 "bankside a"

G accepts unneeded comma

9.648 "seats, as"

G reverts to no-comma

9.669 "wooer twice"

G restores plausible ms comma, but compare 9.657 above

9.672 "infamy, tell"

G quietly loses happy comma

9.778 "Stephen, smiling, said"

G de-comma-fies

9.870 "born for"

G imposes happy comma

9.929 "firedrake rose"

G restores plausible comma

9.933 "midnight, returning"

G reverts to ms no-comma

10.635 "it and"

G restores unneeded comma

10.658 "John the"

G reverts to comma

10.720 "street past"

G accepts unneeded "s6" comma

10.731 "Now you're"

I accept G's restoration of contraction, but not the comma

10.734 "I said, quietly"

G rejects this interesting comma

10.741 "answered stopping"

G restores doubtful comma

10.805 "evil lights"

G idiotically restores comma

10.826 "butcher were"

I hesitantly accept G's reversion to no-comma

10.973 "here, Martin"

I accept Dalton's comma

10.980 "quoted elegantly"

G restores unneeded comma

10.988 "uncertainly with"

G restores unneeded comma

10.1010 "even and"

G imposes plausible comma, pleading "e"

10.1102 "Farrell with"

I reject Dalton's plausible comma

10.1221 "skirt, smiled"

G rejects comma

10.1222 "Hesseltine and"

G restores unneeded comma

10.1260 "Huggard started"

Dalton's comma is not required

10.1260 "hotel, Cashel"

Dalton's de-comma is not needed

10.1263 "street, by Trinity's postern, a"

G de-commafies, crediting Dalton

15.105 "not music not odour"

15.126 "down turned, in planes intersecting"

15.290 "at all at all"

15.299 "jacket, slashed"

15.361 "rainbedraggled, Bridie"

15.387 "pockets, stands"

15.414 "buttonholes, leap"

15.876 "rumpled: softly"

cf 15.1107-- colons seem okay in theory but annoying in practice

15.992 "on to"

I find this distracting

15.993 "bearded, with"

15.1107 "hands: with"

15.1510 "chair, borne "

Joyce's comma would imply Selene was borne, not the chair

15.1527 "builder, construct"

15.2869 "do tremble"

17.155 "pegs two"

17.232 "adhered, (bought"

17.238 "water, (his"

17.246 "stomach and"

17.655 "videlicit"

needs italics, cf 17.918

17.890 "purpose the"

colon? (there's a deadly complication here because the second half of the parallelism is best with no punctuation. it's basically no-win, I fear.)

17.1092 "solution, he"

17.1222 "arms, meeting"

17.1821 "E C"

E.C. [periods]

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