"Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it."
— P.J. O'Rourke

Adeline Virginia Woolf (née Stephen; 25 January 1882 – 28 March 1941), known professionally as Virginia Woolf, was an English writer and one of the foremost modernists of the twentieth century. She is seen as a major twentieth-century novelist and one of the foremost modernists. Woolf is also considered a major innovator in the English language; in her works, she experimented with stream of consciousness and the underlying psychological - as well as emotional - motives of characters. Woolf's works have been translated into over 50 languages. Her fiction is also often studied for its insight into shell shock, war, class and modern British society.
During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society and a central figure in the influential Bloomsbury Group of intellectuals. Her most famous works include the novels Mrs Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927) and Orlando (1928), and the book-length essay A Room of One's Own (1929), with its famous dictum, "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction." Woolf suffered from severe bouts of mental illness throughout her life, thought to have been what is now termed bipolar disorder, and committed suicide by drowning in 1941 at the age of 59.
See below our stock of Virginia Woolf First Editions, fine bindings, sets and other collectible material.
New York, NY: Doubleday Doran and Company, Inc., 1932. [Classic Humour] FIRST ANTHOLOGY EDITION. Octavo (20 x 14cm). Publisher's pale green cloth blocked in dark green, pictorial dust-wrapper priced at $2.50. Jacket just a touch dusty and marginally sunned to spine else a particularly fine copy which appears to be..... More
London: The Hogarth Press, 1929. [Essays] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (18 x 12cm), pp.172. Cinnamon cloth, titled in gilt to spine. Decorative bookplate and ownership signature of Eve Fleming. Offset toning to endpapers, light handling; a near fine copy without the jacket. One of the most famous works of Ms. Woolf;..... More
London: The Hogarth Press, 1975-1980. [Letters] COMPLETE FIRST EDITIONS, first impressions. Six volumes. Octavo (24 x 16 x 25cm), pp.xxiv; 531 [1]; pp.xxviii; 627 [1]; pp.xxiv; 600; pp.xxii; 442; pp.xx; 476; pp.xviii; 556 [2]. With four double-sided black and white photographic plates each to volumes I-IV, and frontispieces to volumes..... More
London: Hogarth Press, 1948. [Literature] UNIFORM EDITION, seventh impression, fifth impression. Two volumes uniformly bound. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.305; [1]. pp. 207; [2]. Publisher's bright teal cloth lettered in gilt to spine with typographic dust-jacket priced at 7s 6d to front flap and spine. [Vol I] Pencil margin marks..... More
London: The Hogarth Press, 1933. [Literature] LEATHER-BOUND FIRST EDITION. Octavo (22 x 14cm), pp.163 [1]. With six photographic plates and four drawings by Vanessa Bell. Recently re-bound in red half calf, with raised bands, gilt titles to spine, and matching cloth over boards. Original cloth spine bound in at rear..... More
London: The Hogarth Press. 1949. [Modern Literature] UNIFORM EDITION, seventh impression. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.176. Publisher's turquoise cloth lettered in gilt to spine, typographic dust-jacket with printed price of 7/6 to spine and front flap. Top edge green. Previous owner's name and date in green ink to verso of..... More
London: The Hogarth Press, 1947. [Essays] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (21 x 14cm), pp.191. Burgundy cloth, titled in gilt to spine, pictorial pink dust-wrapper by Vanessa Bell priced at 10/6. Book is fine. The pink jacket has the inevitable loss of colour, with some chips and tears to the extremities. Very..... More
London: The Hogarth Press, 1933. [Modern Literature] UNIFORM EDITION, SECOND IMPRESSION, fourth overall edition. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.293; [1]. Publisher's green cloth lettered in gilt to spine, typographic dust-jacket with printed price of 5/- to spine. Ex-Libris and small bookseller's sticker front paste-down, previous owner's gift note in black..... More
London: The Hogarth Press, 1930. [Modern Literature] FIRST UNIFORM EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[4]; 538; [2]. Publisher's green cloth lettered in gilt to spine, typographic dust-jacket with printed price of 5/- to spine. Ex-libris stamp and small bookseller's sticker front paste-down, previous owner's name in black ink to flyleaf..... More
London: The Hogarth Press, 1933. [Modern Literature] UNIFORM EDITION, fourth overall edition. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.299; [1]. Publisher's green cloth lettered in gilt to spine, typographic dust-jacket with printed price of 5/- to spine. Previous owner's name in black ink to flyleaf, light toning and spotting to edges of..... More
London: Duckworth and Co., 1915. [Modern Literature] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.458; [6], adverts; 16, catalogue. Publisher's green cloth, titled in gilt to spine, panelled title blocked in black to upper. Custom-made clamshell box. Decorative bookplate of R.D Jackson. Some trivial wear/handling else a particularly sharp copy, from..... More
London: The Hogarth Press, 1953. [Modern literature] UNCORRECTED PROOF. Octavo (23 x 15cm), pp.372. Publisher's mottled orange wraps printed in black to upper cover, dust-wrapper designed by Vanessa Bell, price at 18s. Book is fine; jacket near fine with minor toning to spine and a little creasing to joint. Shows..... More