Table Of ContentVirginia Woolf, the War Without, the War Within
University Press of Florida
Florida A&M University, Tallahassee
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton
Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers
Florida International University, Miami
Florida State University, Tallahassee
New College of Florida, Sarasota
University of Central Florida, Orlando
University of Florida, Gainesville
University of North Florida, Jacksonville
University of South Florida, Tampa
University of West Florida, Pensacola
Virginia Woolf ,
THE WA R W ITHOUT,
THE WA R W ITHIN
Her Final Diaries & the Diaries She Read
Barbara Lounsberry
University Press of Florida
Gainesville/Tallahassee/Tampa/Boca Raton
Pensacola/Orlando/Miami/Jacksonville/Ft. Myers/Sarasota
Copyright 2018 by Barbara Lounsberry
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
This book may be available in an electronic edition.
23 22 21 20 19 18 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Lounsberry, Barbara, author.
Title: Virginia Woolf, the war without, the war within : her final diaries
and the diaries she read / Barbara Lounsberry.
Description: Gainesville : University Press of Florida, 2018. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017055317 | ISBN 9780813056937 (cloth : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Novelists, English—20th century—Diaries. | Woolf, Virginia,
1882–1941—Diaries.
Classification: LCC PR6045.O72 Z8118 2018 | DDC 828/.91203 [B]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov_2017055317
The University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing agency for the State University System
of Florida, comprising Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic University, Florida Gulf Coast
University, Florida International University, Florida State University, New College of Florida,
University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of North Florida, University
of South Florida, and University of West Florida.
University Press of Florida
15 Northwest 15th Street
Gainesville, FL 32611-2079
http://upress.ufl.edu
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
List of Abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
1. The War Within 5
Virginia Woolf’s June 1929 to September 1930 Diary 6
Dorothy Wordsworth’s Journals 11
2. The March of Headlines 24
Virginia Woolf’s 1930–1931 Diary 25
John Skinner’s Journal of a Somerset Rector 38
James Woodforde’s Diary of a Country Parson 48
The Private Diary of Princess Daisy of Pless 55
3. Adept Sailing before the Storm 68
Virginia Woolf’s 1932 Diary 69
Virginia Woolf’s 1933–1934 Diary 79
Michael Field’s Works and Days 87
4. Warnings 101
Virginia Woolf’s Second 1934 Diary 102
André Gide’s Journals 110
Guy de Maupassant’s Travel Journal Sur l’eau (Afloat) 118
Alice James’ Journal 126
5. Tightness & Struggle 138
Virginia Woolf’s 1935 Diary 138
Dr. John Salter’s Diary 150
John Bailey’s Diaries 160
6. Misguided General 168
Virginia Woolf’s 1936 Diary 168
The Diaries of Lord & Lady Amberley: The Amberley Papers 177
Journal of a Governess: Ellen Weeton 198
Stephen MacKenna’s Journal 210
7. Storm-Tossed & Exposed 221
Virginia Woolf’s 1937 Diary 222
The Late Diaries of Leo & Countess Tolstoy 231
8. Hitler Darkens the Waters 249
Virginia Woolf’s 1938 Diary 250
The Diary of the Reverend Francis Kilvert 257
9. War Shades Life & Work 272
Virginia Woolf’s 1939 Diary 273
F. L. Lucas’ Journal under the Terror, 1938 282
Charles Ricketts’ Journals 292
10. Encircled by War 302
Virginia Woolf’s 1940 Diary 303
Virginia Woolf’s 1941 Diary 315
Epilogue 324
Appendix: The Diaries Virginia Woolf Read 331
Notes 337
Works Consulted 365
Index 379
Acknowledgments
Melancholy hovers as I write the last words of my trilogy on Virginia Woolf’s
diary and the many diaries she read. Still, what a privilege and joy to live with
Woolf’s prose for more than two decades.
My first and greatest thanks must go to Shannon McCarthy, longtime ac-
quisitions editor for the University Press of Florida, who first saw merit in the
prospectus for Becoming Virginia Woolf: Her Early Diaries and the Diaries She
Read and invited me to send the book. Little did she know what would follow.
Shannon’s kind, yet firm, counsel helped me shape all three books; indeed, she
offered the title to volume 2: Virginia Woolf’s Modernist Path.
Thanks, too, go to the poet Kathleen Kelly, who, from the start, expressed
keenest interest in Woolf’s final diaries and years. I hope this book will fulfill her
hopes, for Kathleen’s probing questions led me to see that I could write a book
on each of Woolf’s three diary stages. Poet and novelist Nancy Price was also
there from the start, pointing to the many threads I was trying to weave in my
first manuscripts and helping me to pare strands, yet also to deepen the weave.
I can never express sufficient gratitude to Anne Olivier Bell, whose ac-
curate, helpful, and (sometimes even) droll editing of Woolf’s 1915 to 1941
diaries sets the standard for such work. Without her labors, our understand-
ing of Woolf would be greatly impoverished—and my books could not exist.
Olivier Bell’s help extended beyond the precious print editions of Woolf’s di-
aries, for in 2001 she allowed me to interview her in her home. She offered me
a delicious lunch on the long wooden table where the diary work unfurled;
showed me the huge photocopies she had made of Woolf’s handwritten diary
pages; and then drove me to see Charleston. That same year, Andrew McNeil-
lie, Bell’s assistant editor of the 1920 to 1941 diaries, took time to describe to
me those “heady” days in Sussex and how funny Quentin Bell could be when
McNeillie helped him compile the indexes to the diaries. Before his death,
Quentin Bell promptly and fully answered all questions I had regarding his
aunt and her diaries.
In 2003, scholar Sybil Oldfield continued this English largesse. She drove
me to the bridge over the River Ouse. (Nothing was green on that cold April
Sunday, all bare and brown.) Then she boosted me up to look over the wall at
Monk’s House, the Woolf’s Sussex home. Most of all, Sybil shared with me her
own important work, which I’ve drawn on most fully in this final book, The War
Without, the War Within.
In the United States, biographer Panthea Reid generously gave of her time
to read and offer suggestions that have greatly improved this book and the two
previous volumes. Woolf scholar Beth Rigel Daugherty did the same with this
final volume, offering helpful guidance on matters large and small.
Over more than a score of years, the curators of the Henry W. and Albert
A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature in the New York Public
Library have also shared their expertise during my hours of work with Woolf’s
manuscripts. This access was vital, particularly for this final book. My thanks
also go to Dorothy Sheridan, head of Special Collections at the University of
Sussex, for allowing me to work with the Monk’s House papers.
I am indebted as well to many arms of the University of Northern Iowa.
The Graduate College and the College of Humanities and Fine Arts provided
grants and leaves that allowed the books to grow. Special thanks go to Rose-
mary Meany and others in the Rod Library who helped me locate many of the
obscure diaries Woolf read.
The poet Penelope Cray also deserves the highest endorsement as the copy-
editor supreme for all three volumes. Although we’ve never met in person, I’ve
come over the years to think of her as the best kind of friend. I also thank the
press designers for their striking covers, type styles, and page designs.
Final thanks to members of the International Virginia Woolf Society—and
to members of the many Woolf societies in specific nations—who are so wel-
coming and generous with their knowledge and support.
viii Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
CH Carlyle’s House and Other Sketches [Woolf’s 1909 Diary]. Ed. David
Bradshaw.
CR The Common Reader. 2 vols.
D The Diary of Virginia Woolf. Ed. Anne Olivier Bell. 5 vols.
E The Essays of Virginia Woolf. Ed. Andrew McNeillie and Stuart N.
Clarke. 6 vols.
L The Letters of Virginia Woolf. Ed. Nigel Nicolson and Joanne
Trautmann. 6 vols.
MOB Moments of Being. Ed. Jeanne Schulkind.
PA A Passionate Apprentice: The Early Journals, 1897–1909. Ed. Mitchell A.
Leaska.
ROO A Room of One’s Own
RN Virginia Woolf’s Reading Notebooks. Ed. Brenda Silver.
SF The Complete Shorter Fiction of Virginia Woolf. Ed. Susan Dick
TG Three Guineas
