Virginia Woolf
This Web page has information to help researchers find materials related to the English author Virginia Woolf, 1882-1941.
Books | Articles (includes tips for searching MLA online) | Woolf on the Web | Full Text Online | Bloomsbury Group
Books
Books are a key resource for literary research. Books by and about Virginia Woolf can be found in Morgan Library within call number PR 6045 .O72 . They are located in the lower level (basement) of the building.
Locate individual tales by doing a title search in SAGE, the library catalog (also for works in anthologies or compilations from the past thirteen years and selected older titles):
Mrs. Dalloway
Note: this search also picks up materials about the novel, essay, or poem.
Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vols. 36, 100, and 162. PS 221 .D5 Reference
This reference book has extensive essays on included authors. Three volumes (numbers above) have entries on Woolf.
See also reference books under PR111; these are books on women British writers, including Woolf.
Articles
For literature, and therefore Virginia Woolf, there are three indexes that provide the most sources for research on the author and his works. The indexes are MLA Bibliography, Academic Search Premier, and Humanities Index. However, there are additional indexes of interest, listed below.
Search the MLA Bibliography for articles, book chapters, etc. After finding a citation, check SAGE to see if CSU owns the journal or book.
To find resources about Woolf, search MLA for:
There are many entries on Virginia Woolf in MLA (as of August 2006 there are over 3800 entries).You can limit your search by publication type from the initial search screen. Get there by clicking on "Search Options" tab if you have already done a search. Publication types are: Book; Book Article; Book Collection; Dissertation Abstract; Journal Article. The left example below shows a search limited to journal articles. You can exclude dissertations from a general search (right example).
You can also limit your search by language of the article by scrolling and selecting your choice:
You may select more than one language; just use the Ctrl key to choose languages that are not sequential:
Once you set limits, they will stay as long as you do new searches in the main search box (
shows just above entries for search results). If you return to
it erases your previous limits, so if you intend to add something new, you will need to remember to repeat your earlier limits.
Because there are so many records, narrow your search by topic. For example:
narrows the number of items to 12 (August 2006) (or 6 if limited to English).
The "Search History" shows you your earlier searches. Click on the box in the "Add to Search" column to the left of the search you want to repeat or combine (with and, or, or not) and click on the "Add" button. You will then need to click the "search" button to do the search--or you can add additional terms in the same or other search boxes. Search history/alerts, will continue to display until you click on it again
(difference is direction of arrow to left of the words.)
(July 30, 2008)
To eliminate the book reviews from your search, do a people search for "Woolf, Virginia" not books-reviews (PE Woolf, Virginia, NOT books-reviews). Same software as MLA above. There are over 525 records on Woolf in Academic Search Premier. Some of the records are for a more general audience than MLA, and may be very useful. You can also limit your results, under "search options," to scholarly articles (this option is not found in MLA--generally speaking, everything in MLA is scholarly).
Humanities Index (AI 3 .I495 Reference South 1974-98; online 1984- ). Online (different publisher, similar subject coverage): Humanities International Index Varies.
Over 2500 articles about or mention Virginia Woolf and her works/influence in the online database; in over 960 (August 2007) she is mentioned as a subject.
Subject Terms: WOOLF, Virginia, 1882-1941
2490 articles about Woolf (over 6080, including reviews; limit to articles to identify articles only). All full text.
Over 95 records with Woolf, Virginia as a LC Subject. All articles are full text and may be viewed in HTML or PDF. Do a LC Subject search or "All Fields Except Text" because the "all fields w/text" brings up hundreds of irrelevant articles.
Essay & General Literature Index.
Citations to book chapters. Over 195 records.
Arts and Humanities Citation Index (via Web of Science).
Over 1400 citations.
Electronic Collections Online.(ECO.)
Over 165 citations.
New York Times Historical 1851-.
Quite a large number of items of interest can be found in this newspaper. There are display ads for Woolf's books (with quotes from reviewers, in some cases). Do a search for "Virginia Woolf" and one of her works to find articles of interest (e.g. "A Room of One's Own" brings up 41 entries). Or wade through over 4700 entries with her name (the first few are not about the author, and there are probably other "false drops," so narrowing your search is recommended).
Woolf on the Web
The first section below covers Web pages with general information about Woolf overall. Information is quite scattered. Mrs. Dalloway, Orlando, A Room of One's Own, and To the Lighthouse have sections of their own.
In all cases, be sure to evaluate what you find, no matter the source: book, article, Web page.
Audio: Virginia Woolf: Writing Life. New York Times. Search for "PEN American Center. Recorded on March 9, 2000 at Manhattan's Town Hall" in your search engine, and select entry with this title on www.nytimes.com/books/00/03/12/specials/woolf.html--a direct link does not work.
"An evening celebrating the legacy of Virginia Woolf, sponsored by the PEN American Center. Recorded on March 9, 2000 at Manhattan's Town Hall." Audio excerpt (or listen the the entire 1hour 38 minutes at once). Start is Woolf reading.
International Virginia Woolf Society.
"The International Virginia Woolf Society exists for the benefit of readers and scholars of Virginia Woolf throughout the world." Online bibliography of criticism published from 1996- (by year). Links to a variety of resources on the Web; scroll down for research materials.
Interviews: Words Fail Me 29 April 1937. BBC Four.
Audio extracts from interview with Woolf. Fascinating to hear her voice. Excellent audio with only minimal scratching in the background.
Links. Cheryl Mares. Sweet Briar College. 2001.
Links to a variety of sources. Works, Bloomsbury, modernism, theory, etc.
Virginia Woolf. British Library.
Brief information about the library's holdings of Woolf materials and links to catalogs of holdings.
Virginia Woolf 1882-1941. Project Gutenberg of Australia.
Links to eBooks (some found below) and lists contents of her essay and short story collections. A few extracts as well.
Virginia Woolf, Her Life and Works. Mantex.
Chronology.
Virginia Woolf Resources. The Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain.
Biography, books (bibliographies thereof, illustrations, photographs, etc.), for visitors to London, visitors to the countryside, and a few others. Signed authors for the materials.
Virginia Woolf's London. Marylin Bender. The New York Society Library. 1999. Copyright © 1999-2006.
Essay with walks in London including quotations from Woolf's writing. A few photographs. Bibliography.
Woolf, Virginia (1882-1941): A Web Guide to Literary Criticism on Virginia Woolf. literaryhistory.com.
Links to criticism and related articles. Some links out require membership (e.g. New York Times Online). Annotated.
The London Walks of Mrs. Dalloway. E.K. Sparks. Clemson University.
Map of multiple characters' walks through London (different colored dots for each character). PowerPoint link at foot of page brings up presentation with photographs (contemporary and recent) and map images from the walks (2002).
Mrs. Dalloway. Jason Carter. Rose Norman. University of Alabama in Huntsville.1997, 2004.
Useful site with lots of good information about the novel, including a plot outline and a brief annotated bibliography.
Virginia Woolf’s ‘Mrs Dalloway.’ Online Gallery: English Literature. British Library.
Image from draft of the book (click to see entire page). Biographical information about Woolf.
Resisting the Clock: Dissolving Time in Virginia Woolf's Orlando. Annie Sullivan. Serendip.
Student essay from Bryn Mawr College. A few endnotes.
Virginia Woolf, Orlando: A Biography (1928). Catherine Lavender. The College of Staten Island of The City University of New York.
Critical readings of two parts of the text. Questions to think about regarding this book. Most of the links out no longer valid.
Joel Rich Lecture on A Room of One's Own. Joel Rich. University of Chicago. February 1992.
Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own (1929). Catherine Lavender. The College of Staten Island of The City University of New York.Commentary, chapter by chapter.
Questions to think about regarding this writing. Most of the links out no longer valid.
Virginia Woolf on Women and Fiction. Joel Rich.
Internal links to essays on various topics. Focus on A Room of One's Own.
See also under Full Text Online.
Education and Thought in Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse. Betty A. Sichel. Long Island University.
Essay originally published in Philosophy of Education in 1992. Endnotes.
To the Lighthouse. Multiple authors. University of Alabama in Huntsville.1997, 2004.
Links to essays, plot outline, comments, brief annotated bibliography. Dark blue background makes it difficult to read this page, but links out appear legible.
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf (1927): A Study Guide. Cathy Decker. 1998. 2001.
Characters, study questions. No answers.
See also under Full Text Online.
Full Text Online
e-Books online for Virginia Woolf. eBooks@Adelaide. University of Adelaide Library. Some rights reserved.
Brief biography. Read some of her works online, chapter by chapter. Straight text, no special reader required. The Voyage Out (1915) , Night and Day (1919), Jacob's Room (1920), Monday or Tuesday (1921), Mrs Dalloway (1925), The Common Reader, First Series (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), Orlando (1928), A Room of One's Own (1929), The Waves (1931), Flush: A Biography (1933), The Common Reader, Second Series (1925), The Years (1937), Three Guineas (1938), Between the Acts (1941), The Death of the Moth and Other Essays (1942), and A Haunted House and Other Short Stories (1944).
Monday or Tuesday. Bartleby.com.
Eight short stories by Woolf: A Haunted House, A Society, Monday or Tuesday, An Unwritten Novel, The String Quartet, Blue & Green, Kew Gardens, The Mark on the Wall.
Bloomsbury Group
The Bloomsbury Group. Janice E. Dawley.
Brief information about one person's list of people in the group.
Web Resources for The Bloomsbury Group. Department of English. Kansas State University.
General information, art, authors, and related authors. Multiple annotated links. Extensive.
Web Review: The Bloomsbury Group. Eva Rougé, Corentin Chauvel & Perrine Bonvalet.
Introduction, three parts, conclusion, and lexicon. Provides annotated links out to materials on Web sites.
Note: there are a number of sleazy outfits that will sell papers on Woolf to students (who are thereby cheaters), so teachers beware. Any student who buys a paper should not pass any course.
See also Milton, Chaucer, Poe, O'Connor, William Carlos Williams & Wallace Stevens, Dickinson & Wright, Faulkner, and Shakespeare.