Letters

Sir:

John Paul Riquelme, in his review essay on Gordon Bowker's biography of Joyce in the last issue of the James Joyce Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 4 (Summer 2011), 759-67, states that the information provided in the book that Alfred Hunter's wife was called Marion "appears to be a discovery" (763). Riquelme notes that this information is provided only in the American edition and the English paperback version of Bowker's work; it is not contained in the original edition.

Riquelme's cautious phraseology is very well grounded: for the record, and in the interests of accuracy, this information was first disclosed by the undersigned in the Dublin James Joyce Journal, 1 (2008), 47-54 ("Myths and Monuments: The Case of Alfred H. Hunter"). As Riquelme notes, the fact that this Hunter's occupation was that of advertisement canvasser (as noted in his death certificate) was first revealed in Peter Costello's James Joyce: The Years of Growth (London: Kyle Cathie, 1992), p. 231. In a second essay in the Dublin James Joyce Journal, 3 (2010), 144-51 ("Marion Hunter Revisited: New Light on a Dublin Enigma"), I provide more information about Marion Hunter and a little more about Alfred H., and I argue that the "Albert Hunter" shown in Thom's Directory for 1904 as living in 28 Ballybough Road is indeed Alfred Hunter ("Albert" is a very easy misreading of "Alfred," and no "Albert Hunter" is listed in the Dublin records before that year or subsequently). As Riquelme notes, Bowker muddies the waters somewhat by erroneously ascribing to the Hunter of Ballybough Road the middle name "Hugh." In fact, the Thom's entry states "Hunter, Mr Albert H." All available evidence points to the likelihood that the Hunter in question here had the middle name "Henry."

In the first of my Dublin James Joyce Journal pieces, I discuss the issue of how, and how much, Joyce would have known about Alfred H. Hunter and his wife. Complete certainty may not be possible, but I remain firmly of the view that the facts that this man was an advertisement canvasser and that his wife was called Marion, together with the likelihood that he lived in the relevant area of Dublin at the relevant time, offer too great a congruence with the data of Ulysses to be just coincidental.