By the end of the twentieth century, scholars had already devoted more space to the works of James Joyce than to any other author except Shakespeare, and Ulysses was widely regarded as the most important novel of the modern age. 

The entire action of Ulysses, in which Leopold Bloom serves as a modern day Odysseus traversing the streets of Dublin, takes place on a single day: June 16, 1904 (now known as "Bloomsday"). 

In 2004, in honor of the 100th anniversary of that day, the Lilly Library displayed a selection from its rich collection of Joycean materials, including first editions of all his major texts.

Explore this online exhibition, which is based on the Lilly Library's exhibition from 2004.