BETWEEN THE ACTS
by WOOLF, Virginia
- Used
- first
- Condition
- Very Good.
- Seller
-
New Haven, Connecticut, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Mecklenburgh Square, London: The Hogarth Press, 1941. Very Good.. Publisher's bright blue cloth, lettered in gilt. 256 pp. 7⅛ x 4¾ in. White dust jacket printed in black, designed by Vanessa Bell, with "Vanessa" in the bottom right corner rather than the usual "V.B." Boards clean, spine has sunned line at crown where it sat proud from the dust wrapper; minor shelf-wear, offsetting to endsheets, ink ownership signature on front free endpaper with the date "July, 1941" which is the date of publication. Light crease on title page. Rear endsheets have a book review by Woolf's friend Desmond MacCarthy in the Observer, another laid in by Richard Church in an unidentified publication, and yet another in Time and Tide 17 May 1941 by Lord David Cecil entitled "A Note of Virginia Woolf." Dust jacket has one chip near top of spine, tiny closed tear on top edge of rear panel, and the usual smudges a white dust jacket would have. From the collection of R. O. Blechman, an American animator, illustrator, children's-book author, graphic novelist and editorial cartoonist whose work has been the subject of retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art and other institutions.
First edition, first impression. Published 17 July 1941 at 7s. 6d; 6,358 copies printed. A note by Leonard Woolf precedes the text. In this, her final novel, Woolf explores themes of time, memory, and the complexities of human experience. Set in England on a summer's day in the 1930s, the story takes place during a village pageant at a country house called Pointz Hall. Through the perspective of various characters, the novel delves into their inner thoughts, desires, and fears. Woolf weaves together the past, present, and future, blending reality and imagination, as the pageant serves as a reflection of the characters' lives and the changing world around them. The book contemplates the fleeting nature of existence and the way art can capture and transcend the passing of time. Vanessa Bell's dust jacket design, depicting flowers and a stage curtain, aligns with the theme of performance and the idea of being "between the acts." The curtain being drawn signifies a pause or intermission in a theatrical performance, creating a sense of anticipation for what is to come next. WOOLMER 488; KIRKPATRICK A26a.
First edition, first impression. Published 17 July 1941 at 7s. 6d; 6,358 copies printed. A note by Leonard Woolf precedes the text. In this, her final novel, Woolf explores themes of time, memory, and the complexities of human experience. Set in England on a summer's day in the 1930s, the story takes place during a village pageant at a country house called Pointz Hall. Through the perspective of various characters, the novel delves into their inner thoughts, desires, and fears. Woolf weaves together the past, present, and future, blending reality and imagination, as the pageant serves as a reflection of the characters' lives and the changing world around them. The book contemplates the fleeting nature of existence and the way art can capture and transcend the passing of time. Vanessa Bell's dust jacket design, depicting flowers and a stage curtain, aligns with the theme of performance and the idea of being "between the acts." The curtain being drawn signifies a pause or intermission in a theatrical performance, creating a sense of anticipation for what is to come next. WOOLMER 488; KIRKPATRICK A26a.
Synopsis
Between the Acts is the final novel by Virginia Woolf, published in 1941 shortly after her suicide. This is a book laden with hidden meaning and allusion. It describes the mounting, performance, and audience of a festival play (hence the title) in a small English village just before the outbreak of the Second World War. Much of it looks forward to the war, with veiled allusions to connection with the continent by flight, swallows representing aircraft, and plunging into darkness.
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- Second Wind Books LLC (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 421
- Title
- BETWEEN THE ACTS
- Author
- WOOLF, Virginia
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good.
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Publisher
- The Hogarth Press
- Place of Publication
- Mecklenburgh Square, London
- Date Published
- 1941
- Keywords
- Love, loss, last novel, Blechman,
Terms of Sale
Second Wind Books LLC
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Second Wind Books LLC
Biblio member since 2022
New Haven, Connecticut
About Second Wind Books LLC
Second Wind Books is committed to offering important British and American first editions in the Modernist vein, with an emphasis on books about books, books by and about women and adjacent admirers. Literature, poetry, small and fine press, letters and manuscripts, original artwork, photographs, are what interests us most. Our founder began bookselling under the tutelage of a truly great bookman in 2006, and is now offering that learned expertise in her own shop. Interested in offers of literature from 1900 to 1950, either for sale or to evaluate.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Sunned
- Damage done to a book cover or dust jacket caused by exposure to direct sunlight. Very strong fluorescent light can cause slight...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
Frequently asked questions
This Book’s Categories
Also Recommended
-
Save 10% on every purchase!
Join the Bibliophiles’ Club and start saving 10% on every book.
$29.95 / Year