poem written by James Joyce to Sylvia Beach who published Ulysses with her bookstore Shakespeare and Company in Paris

Beach had two copies printed for Joyce’s birthday on February 2nd, one for herself and one for him.

Unfortunately, when Joyce sold Ulysses’ publishing rights to Random House for a $45,000 advance, he cut Beach out of the deal, saying, "A baby belongs to its mother, not to the midwife, doesn't it?"

Beach’s response was, "I understood from the first that, working with or for Mr. Joyce, the pleasure was mine—an infinite pleasure: the profits were for him."