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RR 2004/322 The Library of Leonard and Virginia Woolf: A Short-Title Catalog Compiled and edited by Julia King and Laila Miletic-Vejzovic Washington State University Press Pullman, WA 2003 xx+251 pp. ISBN: 0 874 22270 2 $45
Keywords Archives, Libraries, English literature
Review DOI 10.1108/09504120410552615
The largest collection of books belonging to Leonard and Virginia Woolf is found today in the Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections division of Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, Washington. The story of how Leonard and Virginia Woolf's books, their personal library, ended up so far from their London and Sussex homes, is told in the introductory section to Julia King and Laila Miletic-Vejzovic's The Library of Leonard and Virginia Woolf: A Short-Title Catalog. The Woolf's library was built "around a nucleus of books that Virginia inherited from her father, Leslie Stephen" one of the initial editors of the Dictionary of National Biography. Stephen "had a vast library and much of it came to Virginia after his death in 1904" (p. iii). Virginia's books were combined with those of Leonard Woolf whom she married in August 1912. Following Leonard's death in 1969, his executor Mrs Ian (Trekkie) Parsons gave copies of books written by Virginia Woolf, "some translations into foreign languages", copies of Leonard's books "manuscript materials belonging to both Woolfs, and considerable correspondence" to Sussex University Library (p. xv).
Subsequently, there were two lots of Virginia and Leonard Woolf's books sold at Sotheby's (London) in April and July 1970. The first went to the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas, Austin (incorrectly described at the "Henry Ransom ...." (p. xv). The others were dispersed to individual bidders including the University of Washington Libraries. Following Leonard's death, the Monks House books were sold to George Holleyman of Holleyman & Treacher, the Brighton, Sussex booksellers. The whole collection was acquired by Washington State University that also purchased other books from Monks House from the Bow Windows bookshop in Lewes. There were also books belonging to Virginia and Leonard Woolf in London at 24 Victoria Square. "In 1972 Holleyman...