[Rarebooks] 2 Woolfs at the door....and.....in.....and...

[Serendipity Books]

1)      Woolf (Virginia)  KEW GARDENS. 
Decorations by Vanessa Bell.  [London:] The 
Hogarth Press (November 1927)  4to, original 
white paper boards designed and decorated by 
Vanessa Bell. Spine has splitting tightened and a 
chip re-attached. Corners bruised. Unpaged.  Each 
of the three editions of KEW GARDENS differs 
significantly. The first, ca 8.75” is 16 pp, with 
two woodcuts, in wrappers, one of 150; the 
second, 1919, is (4), (14) pp, 8.5”, in wrappers, 
one of 500. The third, in hand, is much the 
largest of the three, expanded to 48 pp, rising 
as a crown 4to to 10 1/8”.  Each page of text is 
illustrated by Vanessa Bell. Our copy has the 
ownership initials of HMB dated Christmas 1927, 
with subsequent ownership of Roger Senhouse, his 
signature in pencil and modest bookplate.  Third 
limited edition, newly designed, a good copy, 
with some association value.  Kirkpatrick A3c, 
one of 500 published at 3s    Senhouse’s 
remarkable library was auctioned away carelessly 
in recent times, but he was intimately involved 
with bloomsberries all his life, and the 
association we think a positive one. “However, 
there was an unknown side to Strachey. As these 
letters reveal, he had a sado-masochistic 
relationship with the young man who became his 
last lover, Roger Senhouse, later the head of 
Secker & Warburg. I doubt whether anyone except 
the two men involved was aware of the nature of 
their liaison: indeed, even Michael Holroyd, who 
interviewed Roger Senhouse several times before 
the latter's death in 1970, confirms he did not 
know about the mock ‘crucifixion’ they staged - 
an act that even in these sexually relaxed days 
still has the capacity to shock” – Paul Levy.  $900.00




Woolf (Virginia)  ON BEING ILL. [London:] The 
Hogarth Press, 1930.  Original green cloth, 
vellum spine, marbled endpapers, 34pp, 
illustrated leaf, initial flyleaf.  Very fine in 
dust jacket designed by [? Vanessa Bell 
?].  First edition, numbered and signed by 
Virginia Woolf in purple ink, copy #8 of 250. The 
jacket, which is slightly too large for the book, 
has chafed edges and one tear (no loss).  Kirkpatrick A14.  $4000.00



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Peter B. Howard
Serendipity Books
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Berkeley, CA 94702
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