Virginia Woolf, The Common Reader

Teresa Prudente (Università Degli Studi di Torino)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Birmingham Newman University), Louise McDonald (Birmingham Newman University), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

Dates

First circulation or publication Apr 1925

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Non-Fiction
- Commentary / Criticism (literary)
- Essay Collection

Resources

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The Common Reader

was published in April 1925, just one month before

Mrs. Dalloway

, but Woolf had first conceived the project of collecting the best of her reviews and articles into a volume already in 1920, as soon as she had completed her first experimental novel,

Jacob’s Room

. The reasons for such a long process of composition were several and complex, and connected both to the form and meaning that she wanted to impart to the volume and to Woolf’s writing method: she started working intensely on

The Common Reader

in 1922, in parallel with

Mrs. Dalloway

, thus inaugurating her technique of composing two different texts at the same time.

Though mainly comprising articles and reviews that she had published in the Times Literary Supplement and other literary journals, and by a few

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2334 words

Citation: Prudente, Teresa. "The Common Reader". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 February 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1220, accessed 26 November 2024.]

Virginia Woolf, The Common Reader

Dates

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