Virginia Woolf

Foundation of the Hogarth Press 

Following the model founded by Roger Fry 1913 Artist Workshop Omega Workshops ^[15] Mr and Mrs Woolf in 1917 founded the publishing house The Hogarth Press . They specialized in modern literature from the UK, USA and Russia . In July 1917, the production began with the delivery of Two Stories that each contained a history of the spouse, The Mark on the Wall (The mark on the wall) of Virginia, Three Jews of Leonard Woolf. The couple set the 34-page booklet by hand. Because the Woolfs are not enough typeThey put two pages, printed them on a second-hand Minerva crucible printing press , then broke the sentence and then set the next two pages. In this way, they took a good two months to print the edition of 150 copies. Subsequently, the likewise hand- bound binding took place .

The small first work of the publishing house, equipped with four woodcuts by Dora Carrington , a friend of Lytton Strachey’s, had already been ordered by 100 friends and acquaintances, the last copies were sold within two years. One of the first works hand-set also included Prelude writer Katherine Mansfield ; Their friendship, however, was ambiguous. Mansfield played a double game: she praised Virginia opposite The Mark on the Wall , behind her back she called the work banal. ^[17]By 1932, a total of 34 books were produced in his own hand. Hogarth Press was indeed increasingly professionalized, but only Virginia’s third novel, Jacob’s Room (Jacob’s Room) , could be published in the own publishing house. In his 1967 memoir published by Hogarth Press, Leonard Woolf recalls, “We printed in the pantry, tied the books in the dining room, and interviewed authors, bookbinders, and printers in a living room.” 

Shakespeare’s works in her bedroom at Monk’s House , hand-tied by Virginia Woolf Virginia’s role in the Hogarth Press was to recruit new authors and proofread their manuscripts . Thus, on December 8, 1929, she noted in her diary: “I read & read & certainly ended a manuscript pile of 3 feet, carefully reading it; Much of it at the border, which therefore required reflection. “Leonard was responsible for the management, but he also won many authors, mainly from the political and economic issues. Vanessa Bell designed illustrations for Virginia’s books and was responsible for the cover design of her works. The 1927 newly issued Kew Gardens was the most attractive publication in the collaboration of the sisters.

A mistake was made by the Woolfs when they rejected the novel Ulysses by James Joyce , which was offered to them in April 1918 for publication. Only the first few chapters were available at the time, but these were already too large to be set and printed by hand. Because of the obsceneThere was also no other printer in the content who took responsibility for the text. In addition, Virginia was unconvinced of the content and wrote to Lytton Strachey on April 23: “First there is a dog, the p – t, – then there’s a man who farts, and you can even be monotone on that subject – besides, I do not think that his method, which is highly developed, means much more than omitting explanations and inserting thoughts in dashes: therefore I do not believe that we will do it. ” ^[20]