Racy James Joyce love letter is sold
LONDON — An anonymous bidder paid the equivalent of $445,000 for a raunchy letter written by the author James Joyce to his partner and lifelong love, Nora Barnacle, in 1909.
Sotheby’s said the sale last week was a record for a 20th century letter in English sold at auction -- and was more than four times what had been expected.
A scholar discovered it by chance in the pages of an old book held by Joyce’s brother Stanislaus.
The letter is exceptional in part because of Joyce’s well-known distaste for obscene comments or jokes, according to Sotheby’s.
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