Record Number: 19023

---

Reading Experience:

Evidence:

Thursday 7 March 1940: 'A fortnight -- well on Saturday it will be a fortnight -- with influenza [...] before getting into bed that bitter [previous Saturday] afternoon I read my epitaph -- Mrs W. died so soon, in the N.S. & was pleased to support that dismissal very tolerably [...] And read all Havelock Ellis, a cautious cumulative, teased & tired book; too pressed down with that very common woman, Edith [Lees, Ellis's wife]: so I judged her, but she was life to him [...] He's honest & clear but thick [illegible] & too like the slow graceful Kangaroo with its cautious soft leaps. But thats much due to influenza.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 26 Feb 1940 and 7 Mar 1940

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

n/a

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

---

Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Virginia Woolf

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

25 Jan 1882

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Writer

Religion:

agnostic

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

---

Text Being Read:

Author:

Henry Havelock Ellis

Title:

My Life

Genre:

Social Science, Autobiog / Diary

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

1940

Provenance

unknown

---

Source Information:

Record ID:

19023

Source:

Print

Author:

Virginia Woolf

Editor:

Anne Olivier Bell

Title:

The Diary of Virginia Woolf

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1984

Vol:

5

Page:

270-71

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Virginia Woolf, Anne Olivier Bell (ed.), The Diary of Virginia Woolf, (London, 1984), 5, p. 270-71, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=19023, accessed: 20 April 2024

---

Additional Comments:

Verse read by Woolf was: 'Mrs Woolf has passed away; / Rather early, one might say / Considering Orlando's prime / Took such a devil of a time,' and appeared in magazine as 'Result of Competition No. 523' (see p.270 n.1).