Joyce blooming in Buffalo

While it's true James Joyce never set foot in Buffalo, N.Y., a large portion of his life is now housed in this town, just a buffalo wing toss from Niagara Falls.

Over the years, the University of Buffalo has been steadily acquiring Joyce's papers, manuscripts, notebooks, furniture, paintings, first editions and even his spectacles -- more than 10,000 bits and pieces, including his own library. A major acquistion were the papers of Sylvia Beach, Baltimore native and famed Paris bookseller from her shop, Shakespeare and Company.

Beach took in writers like strays, including the penniless Joyce and his partner, Nora Barnacle, in the 1920s. She arranged publication of "Ulysses" saving the page proofs and revisions. The university also snagged pages and pages of notes and revisions of "Finnegan's Wake."

Parts of this incredible collection are on display until Sept. 13 at the Anderson Gallery in the city's University Heights neighborhood.