Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) – English writer, celebrated for her insight into gender roles and creativity
New York: George H. Doran Company, 1920
First American edition
Original green cloth and rare dust jacket
Octavo; 109 x 103 mm (7 ½ x 5 ¼ in)

“Night and Day,” was first published in England in 1919 and in the United States the following year. The novel compares the daily lives and romantic attachments of privileged Katharine Hilbery and women’s rights activist Mary Datchet, examining the relationships between love, marriage, joy and success. Woolf asks if love and marriage can coexist and if marriage is truly necessary for happiness. The number of copies printed is unknown. As of 1929, only 1326 copies had been sold, some may have been from later printings.

“Night and Day,” is a fine copy in a rare dust jacket. The dust jacket has three chips and clear tape reinforcements along the edges of the verso.

Virginia Woolf (London 1882-1941 Sussex)

English writer Virginia Woolf was daughter to Sir Leslie Stephen, historian and author, and Julia Prinsep Stephen, who was born in India and later served as a model for several Pre-Raphaelite painters. Her parents were very well-connected. Her father was a friend to author William Thackeray and philosopher George Henry Lewes. Under these environments, Woolf was ideally situated to appreciate and to experiment with writing. She became acquainted with Leonard Woolf, a fellow writer, and the two were married by 1912. In 1915, she released her first novel, titled, “The Voyage Out,” which she used to experiment with literary tools such as unusual narrative perspectives, dream states and free association prose. Her fourth novel, “Mrs. Dalloway,” was released in 1925 to rave reviews. By her mid-forties, Woolf had established herself as both an intellectual and an innovative thinker and writer, though she regularly suffered from severe bouts of depression and dramatic mood swings. With the threat of Nazi Germany looming and her London home destroyed during the Blitz, Woolf filled her overcoat’s pockets with stones and walked out into the River Ouse in 1941.