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Woolf, Virginia (1882-1941) To the Lighthouse, first edition in the scarce dust jacket.
London: Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, 1927.
First edition, octavo; publisher's full blue cloth, gilt-stamped spine, yellow top stain; in the scarce illustrated dust jacket printed in blue and black by Vanessa Bell (jacket spine panel toned, minor edgewear, some spots, crease down each cover panel; spine a touch darkened, lower corners and spine caps gently bumped, light offsetting and a few minor spots to endpapers); 7 3/8 x 4 7/8 in.
Written "at the height of her luminous Impressionist vision," Woolf's modernist masterpiece To the Lighthouse, is her most autobiographical novel. It is a poignant meditation on the passage of time, following the Ramsay family during visits to their summer residence on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Like the Ramsays, Woolf's family also summered by the sea. Beginning in 1882, they rented Talland House in St. Ives, Cornwall, near the Godrevy Lighthouse, inspiring the novel's central image. According to Woolf's sister, Vanessa (an artist who designed the dust jacket), Mrs. Ramsay was so accurate a portrayal of their late mother that it was almost unbearable to read. Mr. Ramsay, too, is generally accepted as a stand-in for Woolf's father, Sir Leslie Stephen. As the first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, Stephen was consumed by his work throughout the first decade of Virginia Woolf's life. His preoccupation is echoed in Mr. Ramsay, a gloomy figure who consistently prioritizes intellectual activity to the detriment of his relationships. According to Woolf herself, "easily the best of my books," To the Lighthouse is an essential addition to any devoted collector's library.
Connolly, The Modern Movement 54; Kirkpatrick A10a.
