posted on 05 May 2019

Leonard and Virginia Woolf as Publishers : The Hogarth Press 1917-1941 by J.H. Willis Jnr.

The story of the Hogarth Press is, by any measure, pretty remarkable and would probably be unrepeatable in the circumstances of today. The idea that two enthusiastic, albeit well networked, amateurs could go from taking up printing as a hobby to founding a substantial publishing house seems the stuff of fantasy. And in many ways it was. Had it not been for Virginia Woolf’s creativity and talent and Leonard Woolf’s solid and stolid organisational abilities, there is no way any sort of viable business could have emerged from a Bloomsbury back sitting room.

But the fact that it did, along with the ups and downs of that process, are documented in detail by Professor Willis in this meticulously researched history that takes us from the very beginning through to Virginia’s suicide in 1941. Although that didn’t mark the end the Hogarth Press as an entity, Willis is probably right in seeing that moment as the end of a very specific or particular time in its history.

The seeds of Hogarth were actually sown in 1915 on Virginia Woolf’s thirty third birthday when, on a trip out to celebrate, Leonard suggested that they should have a go at printing because both of them were so fascinated by the process. Two years later the plan came to fruition as a hand printing press arrived and eagerly unpacked. Virginia’s diary entry notes:

“We unpacked it with enormous excitement, finally with Nelly’s help carried it into the drawing room, set it on its stand, and discovered that it was smashed in half,”

This detail (all too familiar to those of us who have taken delivery of long anticipated goods only to find they are broken/don’t work/need another part) is a good example of the depth with which Willis digs into the history of Hogarth. He’s able to do this because of access to an extraordinary archive of material – letters, diaries, account books, contracts – which he’s used to bring a real sense of authority to his narrative.

He goes on to set out how the Woolfs initially drew on their immediate circle of family and friends to provide material for printing and for jacket design – a circle that was eventually too tight to encompass their ambitions as the project grew. That’s not to say, however, that they didn’t both have misgivings about the rabbit-hole they’d fallen down and they were aware that in some way they had changed their lives forever through this endeavour. It was, of course, publishing Virginia Woolf’s own writings that gave the enterprise real prestige but she was also something of a weak link in the chain – she found this kind of self-publishing created great anxiety and this undoubtedly contributed to her quite regular periods of mental ill-health.

Astonishingly enough, between the two of them, they pioneered the publication of Russian authors that had not previously found a way into the British market – learning enough Russian along the way to make Virginia a translator – and Leonard increasingly used Hogarth as an outlet for his growing interest in the politics of the Left.

You’ll also find plenty of anecdotes about their relationship with authors who came and went with not many - other than Vita Sackville-West – staying for any extended period. Isherwood, Henry Green, Roger Fry, C.H. Kitchen, Wells, Harold Laski and the list goes on and on. Of course, given the blossoming list of authors looking to publish through Hogarth, Leonard and Virginia soon gave up the actual typesetting and printing, sending the work out to professional printers. They retained their focus on the traditional work of the publishing house – identifying the talent, reading manuscripts and deciding what had a commercial chance of turning a profit.

What Willis doesn’t do here is to speculate explicitly over whether Hogarth made any material difference to Virginia’s eventual suicide. However, reading the book it’s almost impossible to believe that it wasn’t a factor – but a very complicated and often contradictory one. Neither of the Woolfs found it easy to delegate – especially Leonard – and office ‘managers’ came and went at an alarming rate. Even the relationship with their most important manager, John Lehmann (who would eventually buy into partnership and then full ownership) was fraught and, on Leonard’s part, seemingly competitive. The degree to which Hogarth as an enterprise kept Virginia occupied and with a sense of purpose seems to be to be a material issue. I am speculating here but I get the distinct impression the crisis of suicide may have been on her even sooner had Hogarth not been there to give her a different focus. But, on the other hand, it was also clear that the stress and the feeling that Hogarth couldn’t be escaped or got away from must have had a converse, negative impact on her state of mind.

A fascinating book but, and I find myself saying this way too often, overly long and detailed for the casual reader. As a contribution to literary or bibliographical scholarship it’s a fabulous piece of work but to really appreciate it I suspect you need to be a Bloomsbury obsessive.

 

Terry Potter

May 2019