Moments of Being - Second Edition - Preface to the Second Edition

Sep 21, 2026

Moments of Being collects autobiographical writings by Virginia Woolf, bringing together unpublished material selected from major archives held at the British Library and the University of Sussex. The preface explains the publication’s rationale, linking newly found typescript material to earlier manuscripts and emphasizing its significance for understanding Woolf’s development as an individual and writer. It also details newly added pages, expanded reflections on writing methods and consciousness, and acknowledges scholarly and publishing permissions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages231

Reading Time5 h 56 min

AccessFree to download

Preface

Preface to the Second Edition

Editor's Note

Memoir collection context

A Harvest/HBJ BookMomentsof Being.VirginiawoolfSecond EditionEdited by Jeanne Schulkind 1 Books by Virginia Woolfavailable in paperbound editionsfrom Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,Publishers BETWEEN THEACTSBOOKS AND PORTRAITS THE CAPTAIN'S DEATH BED AND OTHER ESSAYSCOLLECTED ESSAYS,VOLS.I-IVTHE COMMON READER:FIRST SERIES THE COMMON READER:FIRST SERIES ANNOTATED EDITIONCONTEMPORARY WRITERS THE DEATH OF THE MOTH AND OTHER ESSAYSFLUSH:A BIOGRAPHYGRANITE AND RAINBOW A HAUNTED HOUSE ANDOTHER SHORT STORIESJACOB'S ROOMMRS.DALLOWAYMRS.DALLOWAY’S PARTYTHE MOMENT AND OTHER ESSAYSMOMENTS OF BEINGNIGHT AND DAYORLANDO:A BIOGRAPHYTHE PARGITERS ROGER FRY:A BIOGRAPHYA ROOM OF ONE’S OWNTHE SECOND COMMON READERTHREE GUINEASTOTHE LIGHTHOUSETHE VOYAGE OUTTHE WAVES WOMEN ANDWRITINGA WRITER'S DIARYTHEYEARS EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTIONAND NOTESby JEANNE SCHULKIND SECOND EDITION A Harvest/HBJ Book Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,PublishersSan DiegoNew York London Text copyright ◎1985,1976 by Quentin Bell and Angelica GarnettIntroduction and editorial matter copyright C1985,1976 byJeanne SchukindPreface copyright ◎1985 byJeanne SchulkindAll rights reserved.No part of this publicationmay be reproduced or transmitted in any form orby any means,electronic or mechanical,includingphotocopy,recording,or any information storageand retrieval system,without permission inwriting from the publisher. Requests for permission to make copies of anypart of the work should be mailed to: Permissions,Harcourt BraceJovanovich,Publishers,Orlando,Florida 32887. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication DataWoolf,Virginia,1882-1941. Moments of being.“A Harvest/HBJ book.”Includes index. 1.Woolf,Virginia,1882-1941—Biography. 2.Authors,English—2oth century—Biography. I.Schulkind,Jeanne.II.Title. PR6045.072Z471985 823'.91285-8521ISBNo-15-661g18-0 Printed in the United States of AmericaSecond edition A B CDEFGHIJ Contents Preface Editor's Note Introduction Reminiscences A Sketch of the Past The Memoir Club Contributions22 Hyde Park GateOld BloomsburyAm I a Snob? Appendix Index 1 Preface to the Second Edition The British Library has recently acquired a seventy-seven page typescriptby Virginia Woolf which came to light in 1g8o.Written in I940,thishitherto unknown material provides the missing link between the type-script and the manuscript which were brought together as“A Sketch of thePast”,the most substantial and significant of the autobiographical writingsin Moments of Being(see Editor's Note,p.61).It represents,moreover,asufficiently valuable contribution to warrant a new edition. The British Library typescript contains twenty-seven pages of entirelynew material(pp.I07-25 below)in which Virginia Woolf describes herfather,Leslie Stephen,and the ambivalence of her relationship to him whichher recent reading of Freud had caused her to reassess.Her mature,analyticaccount illuminates one of the most important influences on her developmentboth as an individual and as a writer,and provides a valuable correctiveto the earlier version which,because it is partial,is also misleading. The typescript,a reworked and more polished version of the manuscripttranscribed on pages 107-37 in the first edition,gives this new versiongreater stylistic coherence than the earlier one.Furthermore,a number ofpassages of particular interest,such as Virginia Woolf's reflections on hermethods of writing and on the nature of consciousness,are expanded andclarified. This book was made possible by the consent and co-operation of theUniversity of Sussex Library,the British Library,and the owners of thecopyright in Virginia Woolf's writings,Quentin Bell and Angelica Garnett.Professor Belland his wife,Olivier,were characteristically generous ingiving aid whenever it was needed;they also provided me with muchindispensable information and often saved me from error,for which I ammost grateful.The courtesy of the staffs of both libraries mentio

FAQs

What does the preface explain about the new edition of Moments of Being?

The preface explains that newly uncovered typescript material, discovered after an earlier manuscript connection, provides a missing link between related texts and justifies a new edition.

Where does the collected autobiographical material come from?

The editor’s note states the collection draws on Woolf archives at the British Library and the University of Sussex Library.

How is the material’s relationship to Woolf’s writing process described?

It describes Woolf’s practice of drafting and revising multiple times, and notes the selected materials exist in different stages of revision.

Sep 21, 2026

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