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Archive for the ‘Talland House’ Category

The Sea Blazed Gold is Louisa Albani’s latest illustrated pamphlet featuring Virginia Woolf, and its publication coincided with the Sept. 11 unveiling of the plaque at Talland House that commemorates Woolf’s connection with the seaside town of St. Ives in Cornwall.

Talland House was Woolf’s summertime home in St. Ives from 1882-1894. Her father, Leslie Stephen, had the lease on Talland House from 1878-1895.

Third featuring Woolf

The Sea Blazed Gold is the third of Albani’s pamphlets to feature Woolf. The first, A Moment In The Life Of Virginia Woolf, explored how the author created her vivid seascapes while living in Tavistock Square in London. The second, The Journey to my Sister’s House, focused on her time in the South Downs, where her sister Vanessa Bell lived.

The Sea Blazed Gold takes its title from a passage in Woolf’s 1931 novel The Waves. In it, Albani weaves her artwork with excerpts from Woolf’s diaries, letters and novels to celebrate Woolf’s time in St. Ives and its impact on her life.

The artist uses mixed media, including collage, metallic stitching and pen and ink in the 36-page publication printed on her own press.Text contributors include Maggie Humm, one of the leaders of the campaign for the Talland House plaque, and writer Astra Bloom.

Purchase and shipping details

The cost of The Sea Blazed Gold is £13. Albani’s press, Night Bird Press, limits its shipment of pamphlets to within the UK. For overseas shipping, contact Nash Robbins at Much Ado Books: shop@muchadobooks.com

Read more on the topic in the October/November issue of My Cornwall.

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Join the sold-out crowd at the Sept. 11 unveiling of the Virginia Woolf heritage plaque at Talland House, her summertime home in St. Ives, Cornwall from 1882-1894.

Professor Maggie Humm, vice-chair of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, and Councillor Johnnie Wells, Deputy Mayor of St. Ives at the Talland House plaque unveiling. Photo: St. Ives September Festival

The plaque, which marks Woolf’s childhood time in St. Ives, was unveiled as part of the St. Ives September Festival last Sunday. The Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain shared the video below to document the occasion. Tony Mason produced the film, which runs just under two minutes.

About the plaque

The first in the black and white colors of the Cornwall flag, the plaque is the product of a long-running campaign by the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, led by Woolf scholar Maggie Humm and the St. Ives Town Council.

The project received unanimous support from St. Ives Town Council as well as from local MP Derek Thomas.

The Council, together with Talland House’s owner Peter Eddy and the society, hosted the sold-out event, which was fully booked within hours of being announced. The event included a reading by Humm from her novel Talland House (2020).

Humm and others are pictured in the video below. In it, you will get a view of Godrevy Bay and the famous Godrevy Lighthouse.

 

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The heritage plaque noting the literary historical significance of Talland House was unveiled at 3 p.m. (BST) today before a capacity crowd at Talland House, Virginia Woolf’s summertime home in St. Ives from 1882-1894.

Woolf’s father, Leslie Stephen, had the lease on Talland House from 1878-1895.

About the plaque

The plaque, which marks Woolf’s childhood time in St. Ives, was unveiled as part of the St. Ives September Festival.

The first in the black and white colors of the Cornwall flag, the plaque is the product of a long-running campaign by the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, led by Woolf scholar Maggie Humm and the St. Ives Town Council.

The plague received unanimous support from St. Ives Town Council as well as from local MP Derek Thomas.

The Council, together with Talland House’s owner Peter Eddy and the society, hosted the sold-out event, which was fully booked within hours of being announced. The event included a reading by Humm from her novel Talland House (2020).

More Woolf events part of St. Ives September Festival

Two other events related to Woolf are part of the September Festival, which runs Sept. 10-24. They include:

  • A talk titled “Virginia Woolf: Memories of St Ives “by Sarah Latham Phillips, a member of the executive council of the Virginia Woolf Society, at 2 p.m. on Sept. 13 at Porthmeor Studios. Tickets are £6.
  • A tour of the Talland House Gardens conducted by Polly Carter at 10 a.m. on Sept. 21. Tickets are £6. Book by emailing poll.carter1@googlemail.com
Professor Maggie Humm, vice-chair of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, and Councillor Johnnie Wells, Deputy Mayor of St. Ives at the Talland House plaque unveiling today. Humm read from her 2020 novel Talland House at the event. Photo: St. Ives September Festival

 

 

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View of the front right corner of Talland House (2004)

Never underestimate the power of a Virginia Woolf scholar who has a Virginia Woolf society behind her.

Thanks to the efforts of Maggie Humm, a member of the executive council of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, a plaque commemorating the time Virginia Woolf spent in St. Ives, Cornwall, will be installed at Talland House.

Humm, author of the novel Talland House,was a major force behind the effort. She advocated for the move by providing St. Ives Town Council with useful and persuasive information about the summers Woolf spent at Talland House until the age of 12.

We first reported news about this effort last October. But now, we have more details and photos to share, as tweeted by @MaggieHumm1.

Timeline of the effort and fundraising

According to a story in the Jan. 28, 2022, issue of The St Ives Times & Echo, the British society first submitted a proposal for such a plaque in October of 2020. However, the Town Council did not support it due to lack of funding.

Cornwall Council and local MP Derek Thomas supported later requests from the VWSGB, which resulted in the St. Ives Town Council reversing its stand. Last month, the Council learned that the owner of Talland House also supported the move and the Council approved it by an unanimous vote.

The plaque, which will be black, will be hand-fired in Cornwall. It will be installed on the right-hand side of the east elevation on the second story of the house.

Funding details have yet to be established, but St. Ives Town Council, in partnership with the VWSGB, has launched a fundraising effort on Spacehive.

Part of a heritage trail?

Woolf’s plaque may be part of a larger effort in St. Ives, one that would use the plaques to recognize other notable people that are part of the town’s heritage.

If the heritage tied up in this remarkable property had been fully understood at an early time it may well have become the town’s main ‘heritage asset’. – “Virginia Woolf to finally be celebrated on a plaque at Talland House,” The St Ives Times & Echo, Jan. 28, 2022.

Front page of the Jan. 28, 2022, issue of the St Ives Times & Echo

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