Books

Hogarth House, Richmond: The Hogarth Press, 1922. First edition, one of 1200 printed. 290; 14 [ads] pp. 1 vols. 8vo. Original yellow cloth with printed spine label, somewhat soiled, with spine toned, and head of spine rubbed with two closed tears. First edition, one of 1200 printed. 290; 14 [ads] pp. 1 vols. 8vo. First edition of Woolf's breakthrough third novel, about the life of Jacob Flanders and his death in the First World War. The work was "recognized, in its stunningly mischievous ellipses and its often absent protagonist, as a new development in the art of fiction; it was hailed by friends such as T.S. Eliot (‘you have freed yourself from any compromise between the traditional novel and your original gift’) and attacked by, for example, John Middleton Murry for its lack of plot … From this time onwards Woolf was regarded as one of the principal exponents of modernism" (Oxford Companion to English Literature). Kirkpatrick A6a; Woolmer 26

Jacob's Room is Virginia Woolf's first novel to employ her distinct stream-of-consciousness narrative style. The story revolves around the life of Jacob Flanders and reflects on themes such as the effects of World War I on English society, the passage of time, and the challenges of understanding an individual's subjective experience.

Identification of first editions of 'Jacob's Room' can be confirmed by checking the publisher's imprint and the date, which for first editions will display 'The Hogarth Press 1922'. Copies may also contain a statement of 'First Edition', and the lack of subsequent printings or editions being mentioned.