Orlando: A Biography

"Many friends have helped me in writing this book. [...]Woolf begins Orlando, establishing the novel as a parody of the Victorian biography in a Preface that includes seemingly spurious acknowledgements of canonical writers, scholars, friends and associates. The notes on the history of the Sack...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Woolf Studies Annual 2019-01, Vol.25, p.159-161
Main Author: de Gay, Jane
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bell, Anne Olivier
Biographies
English literature
History
Novels
Reviews
Woolf, Virginia (1882-1941)
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Summary:"Many friends have helped me in writing this book. [...]Woolf begins Orlando, establishing the novel as a parody of the Victorian biography in a Preface that includes seemingly spurious acknowledgements of canonical writers, scholars, friends and associates. The notes on the history of the Sackville family history cement the case that Orlando in his early years is closely based on Thomas Sackville, First Earl of Dorset (1536-1608), whose portrait appeared on the dust jacket for the first edition (O 326, EN11:11), and that Woolf changes her ancestral model to match the passing years, later taking in the poet and patron Charles Sackville, the Sixth Earl (1636/7-1706) (O 390, EN 103:2/6), before correspondences are followed "more loosely" after Orlando's sex-change (O 434, EN 179:17). The point is amply demonstrated with extensive quotations from Sackville-West's own works including, enchantingly, the lesser-known miniature book she wrote for Queen Mary's dolls' house, first displayed at the Empire Exhibition in Wembley in 1924 (O xliii-iv).
ISSN:1080-9317