Leonard and Virginia Woolf as Publishers: The Hogarth Press, 1917-41 by John H. Willis

Has any couple in twentieth-century intellectual life so captured and held attention as have Leonard and Virginia Woolf? The have proved endlessly interesting as individuals, partners, writers, modernists, and as the central players in the absorbing drama of Bloomsbury. Yet surprisingly scant attention has been paid to their remarkable achievements as publishers. Now J.H. Willis, Jr., combines wide-ranging literary knowledge with more than ten years of research to enhance forever our appreciation of Leonard and Virginia Woolf as publishers. Editorial Reviews From Publishers Weekly In this exemplary work of scholarship, Willis, an English professor at the College of William and Mary, traces the history of Hogarth Press, Leonard and Virginia Woolf's publishing enterprise, from its beginnings as a hand press in their drawing room to its later success as a small, profitable commercial printing press, run in partnership with the poet John Lehmann. In the early years, the Woolfs limited Hogarth Press to literary works, such as short stories by Katherine Mansfield or T. S. Eliot's poetry, but they later published books of political, historical and social importance by such pioneers as Sigmund Freud and John Maynard Keynes. Initially conceived by Leonard Woolf as a diversion for himself and his wife from the demands of their work, Hogarth became the vehicle through which Virginia Woolf was able to publish her writing free from the constraints of editors. A readable and carefully researched addition to Bloomsbury studies. Illustrations not seen by PW. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus Reviews Working with records he discovered himself, Willis (English/College of William and Mary) constructs a comprehensive and methodical history of Leonard and Virginia Woolf's Hogarth Press and of its literary and intellectual significance. From its founding with a recreational handpress in 1917 to Virginia's suicide in 1941, the Hogarth Press produced--in pamphlets, series, or in volumes with artistic illustrations and unusual bindings--474 titles constituting a history of modern letters, including poetry, fiction, history, social and political commentary, and a library of psychoanalytic writing. Though demanding, the dear old Press,'' as Virginia called it, was for her life on tap''--a source of energy, therapy, and creative freedom, a freedom she extended by publishing works by her friends in the Bloomsbury group and by their friends: Vita Sackville-West, Katherine Mansfield, T.S. Eliot, E.M. Forster, Robert Graves, Stephen Spender, C. Day Lewis, Christopher Isherwood, Laura Riding, and John Crowe Ransom, to name a few. Between the wars, the Woolfs helped to disseminate European culture with translations, some by Virginia herself, of Rilke, Chekhov, Tolstoy, Gorki, Dostoyevsky, and, of course--in the International Psychoanalytic Library--Freud and his followers. Politically, the publishers gave voice to women and to such liberal political writers as H.G. Wells and John Maynard Keynes. In an age when major commercial publishers complained of a decline in readership and increase in costs of production, the Woolfs, through their personal supervision, devoted assistants, cautious selection (they rejected Ulysses), and good business sense, produced bestsellers while their own creative lives flourished. Always a part of their domestic lives, the press survived the Blitz, economic depression, Virginia's mental collapses, political unrest, and the various demands of temperamental authors. Lucid, unbiased, tactful, Willis offers fresh perspective on English cultural life between the wars--and insight into the perennial lure of the printing press for creative writers. -- Copyright ®1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Review In this exemplary work of scholarship, Willis, an English professor at the College of William and Mary, traces the history of Hogarth Press, Leonard and Virginia Woolf's publishing enterprise, from its beginnings as a hand press in their drawing room to its later success as a small, profitable commercial printing press, run in partnership with the poet John Lehmann. In the early years, the Woolfs limited Hogarth Press to literary works, such as short stories by Katherine Mansfield or T. S. Eliot's poetry, but they later published books of political, historical and social importance by such pioneers as Sigmund Freud and John Maynard Keynes. Initially conceived by Leonard Woolf as a diversion for himself and his wife from the demands of their work, Hogarth became the vehicle through which Virginia Woolf was able to publish her writing free from the constraints of editors. A readable and carefully researched addition to Bloomsbury studies. (Publisher's Weekly) Review In this exemplary work of scholarship, Willis, an English professor at the College of William and Mary, traces the history of Hogarth Press, Leonard and Virginia Woolf's publishing enterprise, from its beginnings as a hand press in their drawing room to its later success as a small, profitable commercial printing press, run in partnership with the poet John Lehmann. In the early years, the Woolfs limited Hogarth Press to literary works, such as short stories by Katherine Mansfield or T. S. Eliot's poetry, but they later published books of political, historical and social importance by such pioneers as Sigmund Freud and John Maynard Keynes. Initially conceived by Leonard Woolf as a diversion for himself and his wife from the demands of their work, Hogarth became the vehicle through which Virginia Woolf was able to publish her writing free from the constraints of editors. A readable and carefully researched addition to Bloomsbury studies. Review In this exemplary work of scholarship, Willis, an English professor at the College of William and Mary, traces the history of Hogarth Press, Leonard and Virginia Woolf's publishing enterprise, from its beginnings as a hand press in their drawing room to its later success as a small, profitable commercial printing press, run in partnership with the poet John Lehmann. In the early years, the Woolfs limited Hogarth Press to literary works, such as short stories by Katherine Mansfield or T. S. Eliot's poetry, but they later published books of political, historical and social importance by such pioneers as Sigmund Freud and John Maynard Keynes. Initially conceived by Leonard Woolf as a diversion for himself and his wife from the demands of their work, Hogarth became the vehicle through which Virginia Woolf was able to publish her writing free from the constraints of editors. A readable and carefully researched addition to Bloomsbury studies. ?author of Publisher's Weekly From the Back Cover Has any couple in twentieth-century intellectual life so captured and held attention as have Leonard and Virginia Woolf? They have proved endlessly interesting as individuals, as partners, as writers, as modernists, as the central players in the absorbing drama of Bloomsbury. Yet surprisingly scant attention has been paid to their remarkable achievement as publishers. Now J.H. Willis, Jr., combines wide-ranging literary knowledge with more than ten years of research to enhance forever our appreciation of Leonard and Virginia Woolf as publishers. The Woolfs' very personal publishing enterprise began with the installation of a handpress in the drawing room of Hogarth House in 1917. What started as amateur diversion from the demands of their own writing encompassed, by the time of Virginia's suicide in 1941, the publication of 474 titles. Along the way the Woolfs published the early work of T.S. Eliot, Katherine Mansfield, John Maynard Keynes, and a host of others and introduced the English-speaking world to the great Russian novelists and Sigmund Freud. It was a record any publisher would envy, all the more remarkable for the personal way in which it was achieved. Virginia originally set the type and frequently read the proof; Leonard as managing director made the deals, kept the books, and nearly always argued with the assistants. Through much digging J.H. Willis has pieced together the full story of Leonard and Virginia Woolf as Publishers. In the midst of present-day publishing giants and the obliterating tide of so many books, the author writes, readers and publishers may look at the operation of the Hogarth Press with amusement, perhaps with disbelief, possibly with nostalgia.Most of all, I hope readers will look with admiration at what Leonard and Virginia Woolf achieved as publishers in the context of their times and will see the Hogarth Press as a brilliant addition to their accomplishments as writers and intellectuals. Review In this exemplary work of scholarship, Willis, an English professor at the College of William and Mary, traces the history of Hogarth Press, Leonard and Virginia Woolf's publishing enterprise, from its beginnings as a hand press in their drawing room to its later success as a small, profitable commercial printing press, run in partnership with the poet John Lehmann. In the early years, the Woolfs limited Hogarth Press to literary works, such as short stories by Katherine Mansfield or T. S. Eliot's poetry, but they later published books of political, historical and social importance by such pioneers as Sigmund Freud and John Maynard Keynes. Initially conceived by Leonard Woolf as a diversion for himself and his wife from the demands of their work, Hogarth became the vehicle through which Virginia Woolf was able to publish her writing free from the constraints of editors. A readable and carefully researched addition to Bloomsbury studies. ?author of Publisher's Weekly From the Back Cover Has any couple in twentieth-century intellectual life so captured and held attention as have Leonard and Virginia Woolf? They have proved endlessly interesting as individuals, as partners, as writers, as modernists, as the central players in the absorbing drama of Bloomsbury. Yet surprisingly scant attention has been paid to their remarkable achievement as publishers. Now J.H. Willis, Jr., combines wide-ranging literary knowledge with more than ten years of research to enhance forever our appreciation of Leonard and Virginia Woolf as publishers. The Woolfs' very personal publishing enterprise began with the installation of a handpress in the drawing room of Hogarth House in 1917. What started as amateur diversion from the demands of their own writing encompassed, by the time of Virginia's suicide in 1941, the publication of 474 titles. Along the way the Woolfs published the early work of T.S. Eliot, Katherine Mansfield, John Maynard Keynes, and a host of others and introduced the English-speaking world to the great Russian novelists and Sigmund Freud. It was a record any publisher would envy, all the more remarkable for the personal way in which it was achieved. Virginia originally set the type and frequently read the proof; Leonard as managing director made the deals, kept the books, and nearly always argued with the assistants. Through much digging J.H. Willis has pieced together the full story of Leonard and Virginia Woolf as Publishers. In the midst of present-day publishing giants and the obliterating tide of so many books, the author writes, readers and publishers may look at the operation of the Hogarth Press with amusement, perhaps with disbelief, possibly with nostalgia.Most of all, I hope readers will look with admiration at what Leonard and Virginia Woolf achieved as publishers in the context of their times and will see the Hogarth Press as a brilliant addition to their accomplishments as writers and intellectuals. From the Back Cover Has any couple in twentieth-century intellectual life so captured and held attention as have Leonard and Virginia Woolf? They have proved endlessly interesting as individuals, as partners, as writers, as modernists, as the central players in the absorbing drama of Bloomsbury. Yet surprisingly scant attention has been paid to their remarkable achievement as publishers. Now J.H. Willis, Jr., combines wide-ranging literary knowledge with more than ten years of research to enhance forever our appreciation of Leonard and Virginia Woolf as publishers. The Woolfs' very personal publishing enterprise began with the installation of a handpress in the drawing room of Hogarth House in 1917. What started as amateur diversion from the demands of their own writing encompassed, by the time of Virginia's suicide in 1941, the publication of 474 titles. Along the way the Woolfs published the early work of T.S. Eliot, Katherine Mansfield, John Maynard Keynes, and a host of others and introduced the English-speaking world to the great Russian novelists and Sigmund Freud. It was a record any publisher would envy, all the more remarkable for the personal way in which it was achieved. Virginia originally set the type and frequently read the proof; Leonard as managing director made the deals, kept the books, and nearly always argued with the assistants. Through much digging J.H. Willis has pieced together the full story of Leonard and Virginia Woolf as Publishers. In the midst of present-day publishing giants and the obliterating tide of so many books, the author writes, readers and publishers may look at the operation of the Hogarth Press with amusement, perhaps with disbelief, possibly with nostalgia.Most of all, I hope readers will look with admiration at what Leonard and Virginia Woolf achieved as publishers in the context of their times and will see the Hogarth Press as a brilliant addition to their accomplishments as writers and intellectuals. About the Author J.H. Willis, Jr., is Professor of English at the College of William and Mary. He is the author of William Empson.