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“with it, when” reads “with if, when”—ed.
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“Exercisers” was “exercises”
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“phenomena inducted from the invisible” was “phenomena in in- ducted from invisible”
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“his destiny is to fare onward” reads “his destiny is to go onward”— on the back of page 9 of this manuscript, Loy has written that on page 13, where this phrase occurs, “fare” should be sub- stituted for “go”—ed.
After “ ‘unknown’ ” in typescript, about four fifths of the remaining page is left blank—ed.
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“our desire, not of our own contriving, is from” was “our desires, not of our own contriving, are from” and reads, “our desire, not of our own contriving, are from”—ed.
“vibrational coidentity” was “vibrational co-identify”
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“ ‘man of electronic vitality’ ” was “ ‘man of electric vitality’ ”
In the margin next to “Between the brain. . our instincts” Loy writes in large hand: “?)”—ed.
After “our instincts” about two thirds of the remaining page is left blank—ed.
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“humane morality” was “humanie morality”
“intimate doings” was “ultimate doings”
“IT HAS BEEN THE PRETENSE OF CRUELTY TO ENFORCE MORALITY” was “CRUELTY ENFORCED MORALITY”
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“incomprehension through our spiritual” was “comprehension (through) our spiritual”—a large, pencilled question mark exists in the margin next to these changes—ed.
Next to “CONFUSION OF SATAN WITH EROS” Loy writes “or Substitution of Satan for Eros”—ed.
“channels of discard discharge coursing” was “channels of discord coursing”
“challenging our” was “challenging ours”
“to purity (Purity — consciousness. . life) to ignore” reads “to purity to ignore (Purity — consciousness. . life)”—ed.
“extensible maze” was “extensible able-maze”
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In footnote, “toward” was “to word”
THE LIBRARY OF THE SPHINX
(7:190)
“The Library of the Sphinx.” brings together five of Loy’s abiding preoccupations: modernist literature, psychology, sexuality, the asterisk, and lastly, the claim made in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray that women are “Sphinxes without secrets.” The latter two of these interests are specifically discussed in the introduction to this volume. Loy’s “Lady Asterisk.” and “Havelock Ellis” share direct points of reference with “The Library of the Sphinx.”
Loy makes many casual allusions to modernist figures and works of literature in this essay, including Joyce, Eliot, Aldous Huxley, and D. H. Lawrence, whose Sons and Lovers (1913) and Women in Love (1920) receive special mention. Less familiar references involve the sexologist Havelock Ellis (see editorial notes for Loy’s essay of that name); Irish-born editor Frank Harris, author of the multi-volume, scandal-making autobiography, My Life and Loves (1922–27); Italian author Gabriele D’Annunzio (1863–1938) and his novel Il fuoco (The Flame of Life, 1900); American writer Evelyn Scott (1893–1963) and her first novel The Narrow House (1921); and lastly, anarchist activist Emma Goldman (1869–1940).
Although she observes that she is working from imperfect memory at one juncture in this text, Loy recalls Joyce better than Eliot: in the “Penelope” episode of Ulysses, Molly Bloom describes how her husband has kissed and ejaculated upon her backside, and these practices may be what Loy refers to with her paraphrase “if I let him ‘retire’ on my ‘bases’ ”. The line may also refer to the fact that Molly and Bloom sleep top to toe at the end of the book. As Loy further conjectures, Molly does indeed complain that Bloom has a tongue too flat to perform satisfying oral sex. However, Loy tells us that in The Waste Land, the typist puts on the gramophone, dries her combinations on the roof, and swallows hairpins; while the first of these three actions is accurate, in fact, the typist dries her laundry out of her window, and does not swallow hairpins, but less dramatically, “smoothes her hair with automatic hand” (l. 255).
Evidence that Loy planned “The Library” exists in another folder in her papers, where a torn sheet bears the heading “Sphinx.” followed by a list that includes “Women— / Sex / Sin. Novels etc. / Lawrence / Joyce / D’Annunzio. / Huxley— / Frank Harris”; beneath this list reads: “Look up— / Sherwood Anderson / — Waldo Franck [sic]—” (7:188). Fragments in the “The Library of the Sphinx.” folder suggest that Loy intended to write more about the American writers Anderson (1876–1941) and Frank (1889–1967). As numbered by Loy, pages five to fourteen of “The Library of the Sphinx.” remain; the last, incomplete portion of the handwritten script is included at the end of the editorial notes.
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“Notwithstanding that the secret” was “Notwithstanding the secret”—“notwithstanding” has been altered, and is not entirely clear — it may read, “Notwithstated”—ed.
“assumption that the secret” was “assumption of the elucida so- lution of the”
“by each of us” was “by everyone of us”
“us and therefore need never be” was “us but is not allowed to be”
“asked the sphinx” was “said the sphinx”
After “rose—” reads two long dashes, like an extended “=”—ed.
“Impossible” was “But”
“been remarked” was “been noti”
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“misapprehension” was “assumption” and “delusion”
“that the other women” was “that every other women”
“ ‘Woman’ ” was “ ‘But woman’ ”
After “nothing” was:
I dared not lose my litera-
I am about to speak—
At last I speak—
said the sphinx
[‘They’] ‘We’ are no longer interested — they have found their solution—
of my secret—?
Jazz — said the sphinxes — –
to keep on jumpin’!”
In the margin alongside the above, Loy directs herself, “insert somewhere else,” and this she does: this passage is almost iden- tical to part of the dialogue in “Lady Asterisk.”—ed.
“lo-o-o-vely” was “lo-oo-o-vely”
Before “Even James Joyce” reads the title: “I. The library of the Sphinx.”
All honorifics—“Mr. and Mrs. Bloom”—read “Mr and Mrs” in the text—ed.
“ ‘ “would he give me” if I let him “retire” on my “bases” ’ ” reads “ “would he give me” / ‘if I let him “retire” on my ‘bases” ’ ” —ed.
“interference” was “reason,” “procrastination,” and then “reason”
“to account for” was “for”
“suggestion” was “act” and “offer”
“suggestion — at” was “suggestion — on”
“recollect” was “You recollect”
“Let us make the absolute descent” was “Let us descend”
“be positively shredded” was “be shredded”
“That little” was “That nasty”
“the geographical aspect” was “the ascent”
“of the Venusberg” was “of Vesuvius”