Virginia Woolf and The Waves
1 September 2007 - Benita Bunting
On 28th March 1941 Virginia Woolf, unable to continue, ended her sorrow filled life by drowning in the River Ouse. Despite her untimely death the awe in which she is regarded has by no means diminished nearly seventy years later. Held as an experimental genius by some and regarded as the central figure of the Bloomsbury literary movement by others there isn’t a day, or page from her life left unexamined.
Born in1882, Virginia was the second daughter of Sir Leslie Stephen and Julia Duckworth. Stephen was the first editor of The Dictionary of National Biography and Julia Duckworth was niece to both the Victorian photographer Margaret Cameron and Mrs Thoby Prinsep, who played hostess to many Pre-Raphaelite painters. Creativity and imagination were no strangers, therefore, and when in her early teens Virginia was allowed access to their home’s large library, she was inspired to write stories and a periodical with her brother.
Virginia’s life long struggles began when her mother died in 1895, triggering her first grief stricken bout of mental illness. Her pain was contributed to by her father’s unhappiness and eventual death in 1904 and again by her brother’s death in 1906. She was devastated, but three years after her marriage to Leonard Woolf in 1912 The Voyage Out was published by Duckworth. Throughout the next fifteen years she continued to battle her illness while producing thirteen more works all experimental and groundbreaking in their own way. It was also during this period that she became famously intimate with Vita Sackville-West -Orlando, her novel exploring androgyny, is believed to be inspired by this affair.
“now considered her masterpiece”
Considered the last of Woolf’s major works and despite her apprehension prior to its release The Waves, her fourteenth book, was applauded by critics, her peers and public. It is now considered her masterpiece showcasing her signature experimental style and it is perhaps her most poetic and intense exploration. Inspired by the idea of a fin glimpsed among waves, this was a solitary book to write for Woolf, but one that certainly assured her place among the twentieth century literary canon. The book has no plot as such, but takes the form of several monologues spoken by the six central characters. John Lehmann likens it to a Greek drama, as it is not presented as a “stream of consciousness”, but instead spoken formally.
The Waves was published in 1931 by Hogarth Press, a small company established by Virginia and Leonard in 1917 with the intention of publishing new and experimental work. Named after Hogarth House, in which they then resided, the company printed works by the likes of Katherine Mansfield, T S Eliot, Christopher Isherwood and Rainer Maria Rilke. The initial print run for The Waves was over 7,000 and it sold close to 5,000 in the first week alone. The cottage industry boomed and Woolf’s fame with it.
The dust jacket, designed by Vanessa Bell, better known as Woolf’s sister, portrays waves and a rose framed by two figures. Typical of what would come to be known as the Bloomsbury aesthetic, this style was generally thought to be ugly when it first appeared in the early 1920’s. The book is bound in purple cloth with the title, authoress and publisher in gold gilt cursive on the spine. Printed on watermarked paper it was originally available for seven shillings and six pence.
“could be expected to reach 1000-1500 pounds”
In October/November 1985 Book & Magazine Collector featured an article on Virginia Woolf which included a complete bibliography and price list that valued a jacketed copy of The Waves between 80-100 pounds.In 1996 BMC updated its evaluation to 200-300 pounds and then again in 2003 when it stated that a fine copy could be expected to reach 1000-1500 pounds at auction.
Read about our copy, pictured above and see other Woolf related titles we have listed online.
View comparative prices at abebooks.com