Virginia Woolf's Gender Bending Classic, Published by Her Own Press
Orlando
Notes: A feminist classic and one of Woolf's most popular novels, a satyric account of English literary history through the adventures of the title character, a very long-lived poet who begins the book as a man and ends as a woman several centuries later. Woolf incorporated details from the family history of her lover, the writer and gardener Vita Sackville-West.
The book is illustrated from photographs, some of Sackville-West's ancestors and others of Sackville-West herself portraying Orlando at various points in time. The cover image is of a painting of one of Sackville-West's forebears; the painting itself was destroyed in the Blitz, but survives as an illustration here. In another example, the illustration "Orlando on Her Return to England" reproduces a photograph of Sackville-West in the character of the poet.
Orlando is remarkable novel which continues to entrance readers and scholars, who continue to find new layers of meaning in Woolf's view of literature, the role of women writers, and the transgender plotline.
The first edition was a signed, limited edition published in the United States, followed by this trade edition (issued by the Woolfs' own press), and then by the American trade edition.
Edition + Condition: First edition (first trade printing). A very good copy in a very good dust jacket with a number of closed tears on the edges, with a few small chips missing from the edges.
Publication: London: Published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press, 1928.
Item No: #307612
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