The Cats of Copenhagen is a posthumously published short story written by Irish author James Joyce and illustrated by American artist Casey Sorrow. The story was written on 5 September 1936 in the titular city on a postcard to his grandson Stephen James Joyce. It was published in 2012, by Ithys Press, when Joyce's work entered the public domain in certain jurisdictions."Copyright Status of Currently Unpublished Material", International James Joyce Foundation.
Plot The story describes the city of Copenhagen, Denmark, where "things are not as they seem", and is critical of "fat cats" and other authority figures.
Publication Ithys Press published its fine arts edition of The Cats of Copenhagen in January 2012."James Joyce children's story The Cats of Copenhagen gets first publication", Ithys Press This edition features original pen and ink illustrations by Casey Sorrow,"Casey Sorrow and his Cats", Ithys Press letterpress typeset by Michael Caine,"Michael Caine, book artist", Ithys Press and handmade paper marbling and binding of Christopher Rowlatt."Christopher Rowlatt – taking the stylus for a walk", Ithys Press
The publication attracted controversy, as the Zürich James Joyce Foundation's Fritz Senn expressed disappointment that The Cats of Copenhagen had been copied from a letter held at the Foundation without consultation or discussion.Alison Flood, "James Joyce children's story The Cats of Copenhagen gets first publication", The Guardian, 9 February 2012Sophie Douez, "New Joyce book creates controversy in Zurich", Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, 17 March 2012Florence Waters, "James Joyce's children's story sparks publishing row", The Telegraph, 10 February 2012"James Joyce children's book sparks feud", BBC News, 10 February 2012Deidre Wengen, "Publication of a James Joyce children's story causes controversy" , PhillyBurbs, 14 February 2012Terence Killeen, "Joyce children's story published in Dublin to dismay in Zürich", The Irish Times, 8 February 2012 Writing in Granta, author James Scudamore told of meeting with Stephen James Joyce about potentially ghostwriting his memoir, and quoted him as saying he had never seen the story prior to its publication.
Print editions
Title Language PublisherPublish DateISBNIllustrator The Cats of Copenhagen English Ithys Press January 2012 9780957068414 Casey Sorrow The Cats of Copenhagen English Simon & Schuster (Scribner) 16 October 2012The Cats of Copenhagen, Simon & Schuster 9781476708942Casey Sorrow I gatti di Copenhagen Italian Giunti Editore 24 October 2012"I gatti di Copenhagen" , Giunti Editore 9788809777675Casey Sorrow ΟΙ ΓΑΤΕΣ ΤΗΣ ΚΟΠΕΓΧΑΓΗΣ Greek Psichogios Publications 30 October 2012"ΟΙ ΓΑΤΕΣ ΤΗΣ ΚΟΠΕΓΧΑΓΗΣ", Psichogios Publications 9789604969852Casey Sorrow Københavnerkatte Danish Gyldendal November 2012"Københavnerkatte" , Gyldendal 9788702132953Casey Sorrow Mačke Kopenhagena Croatian Edicije Božičević 2013"Mačke Kopenhagena" , Edicije Božičević 9789536751846Casey Sorrow Die Katzen von Kopenhagen German Carl Hanser Verlag July 2013 9783446241596Wolf Erlbruch 哥本哈根的貓 Chinese Chein Hsing Publishing September 2013"哥本哈根的貓", Chein Hsing Publishing 9789866798719Casey Sorrow Los gatos de Copenhague Spanish Editorial Losada September 2013"O kočkách a Kodani", Editorial Losada 9789500399708Casey Sorrow De Katten Van Kopenhagen Dutch Hoogland & Van Klaveren October 2013"De Katten Van Kopenhagen", Hoogland & Van Klaveren 9789089671394Wolf Erlbruch O kočkách a Kodani Czech Albatros Media 23 October 2013"O kočkách a Kodani", Albatros Media 9788000033099Casey Sorrow Les chats de Copenhague French Grasset & Fasquelle November 2013"Les chats de Copenhague" , Grasset & Fasquelle 9782246801115Casey Sorrowהחתולים של קופנהגןHebrewAchuzat Bayit BooksMarch 2019"החתולים של קופנהגן", Achuzat Bayit Books9789655560695Inbal Even
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