Humpty Dumpty in Finnegans Wake
27 × 20 cm
62 pages
Digital print, comb bound
Edition of 12

A copy of the pages in Finnegans Wake (James Joyce, Faber & Faber, 1950) in which reference is made to the character Humpty Dumpty, as identified in A Second Census of Finnegans Wake: An Analysis of the Characters and Their Roles (Adaline Glasheen, Faber & Faber, 1972). Identity (or lack of) is one of the strategies Joyce uses to suggest uncertainty as a central principle in both Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. Humpty Dumpty appears throughout Finnegans Wake in many guises: "cwympty dwympty" (314.16); "Humpsea dumpsea" (317.24); "humbly dumbly" (628.11). Pages from Finnegans Wake were photocopied and bound together in such a way that their order and recto or verso positions were retained. Blank pages were inserted where necessary. The book is inspired by the early structuralist bookworks of the Mexican artist Ulises Carrión.