This Bloomsday we were due to release Episode 3 — Proteus — the third chapter in our eighteen-year journey through James Joyce's Ulysses. Instead, I found myself wandering rather further than expected into the remarkable world of Philip Syng, the Irish-American silversmith whose work became intertwined with Episode 2. You see, we needed an inkwell for the teachers desk on our label for Nestor...

We wanted to wrap Ulysses in paper, and tie with string or twine, staying true to how books used to be packaged for postage. I hadn't...