Blogging Woolf

Among other intriguing rare finds, Jon S. Richardson Rare Books is offering a previously unknown version of Virginia Woolf’s short story “The Mark on the Wall” in French.

According to the Fall 2023 “Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group” catalogue, “La Tache Sur le Mur” was published in the March 1923 issue of EUROPE, Revue Mensuelle, with Woolf’s story translated by Louis Mende at pp. 164-174.

“The piece is accompanied by a short essay on Woolf’s breakthrough style and a review of  her novels through her short story collection Monday or Tuesday by one P.C. [presumably Paul Colin, one of the editors).”

The catalogue explains that “this translation is not noted in Kirkpatrick, it is three years earlier than the earliest known appearance of Woolf in the French language” and there is “no mention in Leonard’s autobiography of this translation or Mende.”

More about the volume

As for the volume’s condition, the “book is bright, solid and VG for age with minor wear from age and soil, unusual to be in this condition because paper has acidified slightly.” The price is $275.

The Jon S. Richardson Rare Books offerings are available via AbeBooks. You can also reach the shop at yorkharborbooks@aol.com or at 207-752-1569.

More about the Richardsons

Jon and Margaret Richardson are not newcomers to the world of Woolf. They have made hunting down the works of Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury group their mission since opening York Harbor Books in Maine more than 25 years ago.

The Richardson duo put out a list of “Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group” offerings quarterly. They issued their previous list in the summer.

More French connections to Woolf’s “Mark on the Wall”

For more on the French connections to Woolf’s “Mark on the Wall,” read Blogging Woolf’s post from Oct. 20, 2010, “The French connection to ‘The Mark on the Wall.'” It explores similarities, parallels, and differences between Woolf’s short story and novels by Marguerite Dumas and Alain Robbe-Grillet.