WOOLF, Virginia (1882-1941) - photo 1
WOOLF, Virginia (1882-1941) - photo 2
WOOLF, Virginia (1882-1941) - photo 3
WOOLF, Virginia (1882-1941) - photo 4

WOOLF, Virginia (1882-1941)

Lot 191
10.07.2024 10:30UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 4 410
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1249878
Lot 191 | WOOLF, Virginia (1882-1941)
Estimate value
£ 4 000 – 6 000
WOOLF, Virginia (1882-1941)
Orlando. London: The Hogarth Press, 1928.
First English edition, presentation copy inscribed by Woolf to Margaret Llewelyn Davies (1861-1944), and with a further annotation in the margin of a ‘Preface’ leaf adding Davies to her list of acknowledgements.

A socialist, feminist and pacifist who was a leading activist in the co-operative movement, Margaret Llewelyn Davies was a dedicated campaigner for women’s rights and social justice. Woolf contributed an introductory letter to her 1931 publication Life as We Have Known It, a compilation of recollections by working-class women, and said of the formidable Davies that she ‘could compel a steamroller to waltz’. The present copy of Orlando, a novel which questions traditional conceptions of gender and is now regarded as a classic text of feminist fiction, is a significant token of Woolf’s links with the avant garde of working class feminism in the early 20th century.

As General Secretary of the Co-operative Women's Guild from 1889 to 1921, Davies was largely responsible for developing the guild into ‘a pressure group of considerable influence for women's rights’ (Dictionary of Labour Biography, 1972). She already knew Woolf slightly through a mutual friend and family contacts, but it was not until 1912 when she became acquainted with Leonard, close to the time of his engagement to the author, that her importance in the lives of the couple truly took hold. As one of his earliest and most influential mentors, Davies became to Leonard 'a friend and confidant who helped the young man formulate a political philosophy' (Oldfield, Women in the Milieu of Leonard and Virginia Woolf, 1998).

Her guidance was never more necessary than during his first marital crisis, brought about by Virginia’s nervous breakdown in 1913. Indeed, 'of all the people whom Leonard Woolf knew, including his own family and that of Virginia, it was to Margaret Llewelyn Davies that he turned for counsel and support in what was the worst nightmare of his life to date […] if the world owes the work of Virginia Woolf to the fact that Leonard Woolf did not commit his manic wife to an asylum when he no longer had the strength to go on trying to persuade her to eat or sleep and not to believe the hideous messages shrieking inside her head, then it owes Leonard's psychological survival between 1913 and 1915 largely to Margaret Llewelyn Davies’ (Oldfield). Kirkpatrick A11b. See Ruth Cohen’s Margaret Llewelyn Davies: With Women for a New World (2020).

Octavo (215 x 140mm). 8 half-tone plates, 3 of these with Vita Sackville-West as subject (occasional faint spotting). Original orange cloth, spine lettered in gilt (spine faded, staining to boards, faint wear to spine ends, lacking the dust-jacket but with the illustration on the upper panel excised and loosely inserted). Provenance: Margaret Llewelyn Davies (1861-1944; presentation inscription from the author on front free endpaper: ‘Margaret / from Virginia / with love’) – by descent to the present owner).
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
10.07.2024 – 10.07.2024
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.
?>