This year marks the 55th anniversary of Washington State University Libraries’ acquisition of the Leonard and Virginia Woolf personal library — a valuable collection that would have never found a home at WSU’s Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) were it not for the former chairman of the WSU English Department, John Elwood.
Elwood acquired the collection for MASC in 1971, which at the time included more than 4,000 titles ranging from Hogarth Press first editions to the extensive works of the literary canon in their personal library. Virginia Woolf is regarded as one of the most influential modernist writers of the 20th century, while Leonard Woolf was a prominent literary critic and political thinker; together they shaped literary culture through their membership in the Bloomsbury Group, a circle of influential 20th-century British writers and artists frequently published by the Hogarth Press, founded and owned by the Woolfs.
Virginia Woolf is regarded as one of the most influential modernist writers of the 20th century, while Leonard Woolf was a prominent literary critic and political thinker.
To commemorate the collection and Virginia Woolf’s ground-breaking literary influence, WSU Libraries Dean Trevor Bond commissioned Assistant Professor of Art Jiemei “Mei” Lin to create a mural of Virginia and her sister, artist Vanessa Bell. Lin’s month-long project resulted in a striking image that incorporates Bell’s original dust-jacket designs.
WSU Libraries will celebrate the new mural at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24, in the Terrell Library Atrium. The public is invited.
The Woolf library’s arrival at WSU traces back to Elwood’s 1967 sabbatical in England when he visited the Bow Windows Bookshop in Lewes and met Fred and Nancy Lucas, the store owners, who later introduced him to Leonard Woolf. After Woolf’s death, that relationship gave WSU a rare opening: the chance to purchase the Woolf library ahead of wealthier institutions like Harvard and Yale.
Through Elwood’s persistence, MASC secured the majority of the collection — books that reveal the intellectual world surrounding one of the 20th century’s most influential writers. With support from donors, the library has grown to approximately 9,900 volumes and continues to grow, expanding its Hogarth Press holdings and preserving Virginia Woolf’s legacy for future generations.
