VIRGINIA WOOLF
CONSIDERS SELLING THE MANUSCRIPT OF HER BOOK: FLUSH
“I DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO SAY ABOUT SELLING THE MANUSCRIPT.
I HAD NOT THOUGHT OF IT—INDEED I HAVE NEVER SOLD ANY
OF MY MANUSCRIPTS. I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IT IS WORTH.”
WOOLF, VIRGINIA. (1882-1941). British novelist, essayist, and critic, who helped create the modern novel. Her writing often explores the concepts of time, memory, and people’s inner consciousness, and is remarkable for its humanity and depth of perception. Interesting group of three letters [two Typed Letters and one Autograph Post Card] Signed “Virginia Woolf” on 52 Tavistock Square, London. W.C.1. Telephone: Museum 2621 stationery. London, 1933. To Frederick B. Adams Jr., regarding Woolf’s biography on Flush, Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s dog. She writes:
“14th March 1933. My dear Mr. Adams, You have no reason at all to apologise for your charming letter which gave me great pleasure. I am very glad to think that you share my sympathy for Flush. The idea came to me that he deserved a biography last summer when I was reading the Browning letters. But in fact very little is known about him, and I have had to invent a good deal. I hope however that I have thrown some light upon his character.—the more I know him, the more affection I feel for him. The dog who acted his part here was black—but there can be no doubt that Flush was red. I do not know what to say about selling the MS. I had not thought of it—indeed I have never sold any of my MSS. I do not know what it is worth. Perhaps the best plan therefore would be if you would say what you would give—I don’t know how else to settle it. I think the book is about 30,000 words in length. I write my books in paper covered volumes, and re-write them a good deal in typescript. But the manuscript is of course the foundation for the final version; and I have only one manuscript. Harcourt Brace will publish the book, probably this summer. I must also thank you for your appreciation of my other books—I am very glad that you like them. I think my father, Leslie Stephen, must have known some of your family in America. Believe me, Yours sincerely, Virginia Woolf”.
[Also included is a copy of the response from Adams to Woolf]:
“April 3. My dear Mrs. Woolf, Your letter arrived and caused a great deal of happiness. I never really allowed myself to believe that you would not have already promised the manuscript of Flush to someone you knew. As it is, I feel as though I had been given the piece of the birthday cake that contained the ring—that is, you must know, cause for excitement to bachelors … (My engagement was announced this very April third, so I shall not long, thank God, remain a bachelor of twenty-three.) I don’t know what to say about the business end of your letter. As an innocent connected with INDUSTRY in New York, I should drive a very hard bargain. As a foolish boy who has spent a great abundance of his happiest hours reading, I should be anxious and willing to give anything you might suggest. As a combination of the two, I call you at 40 pounds and retire to hide behind the screen with Lady Treacle. There you will find me, awaiting with shudders (delicate conventional shudders) the outcome of your interview with … (I interview him every day on 42nd St. so that now I am less than afraid of him.) Please be frank with me. I may have insulted you; I may have suddenly become a plutocrat in your eyes. Please tell me honestly how you feel about the price I mentioned. The fact is, you have never sold and I have never bought a manuscript. Perhaps you would be willing to consult one who proposes to know. Whatever I should have said, it just seems that I can’t evaluate a manuscript in pounds. It’s like weighing a soul before invoicing it to St. Peter, or trying to collect damages from a railroad that has crippled your wife. If £40 is all right, then the great transaction’s done, and I shall be a proud god-father. If not, taut pis, I shall try again, if you permit me another chance! I am, of course, delighted at the idea of its being really a manuscript, not a typescript! That makes it a thousand times more real and living—a modern machine has not had a hand in its making. Your mention of the Browning letters reminds me of an incident that I have always enjoyed remembering. Last autumn, when I was at Corpus Christi in Cambridge, I was arguing with a friend about the frequency of the letters that Robert wrote to the invalid Elizabeth. This took us to the D.N.B., a copy of which we found in the Corpus Library. But this edition contained no “Robert Browning”. It had been published before his death. He was later discovered in an appendix! After several years of efficient study in Yale’s new factory of the mind and book, this made me very happy, leisurely, peaceful, and interested. It was a symbol of the spirit, perhaps, that prompted your father’s Hours in a Library, the spirit that pushes time and temporality into the noisy street, and is content to leave them there, wrestling. I read your letter to my mother and she was more than relieved to know that Flush was ‘red’. That is the color our cocker was once (during the war, I think), but now he is nearly all white, when he is not too dirty. He is the perfect example of the country gentleman who has kept his physique and kept his form. Very sincerely yours, F.B. Adams Jr.”
“24th April 1933. Dear Mr. Adams, Many thanks for your letter. Of course you have not ‘insulted’ me; and I will be perfectly frank with you. As I am as vague as you are about MSS. I asked a friend of mine, Lady Colefax, to find out from an expert in MSS. What sort of sum the Flush MS. would be worth. To my great surprise, he answered, one thousand pounds. This seems to me I admit an absurdly high price. But as the discrepancy is so great between the two I feel myself that it would be better not to attempt to bridge it, but to let the matter rest. But of course if you have any suggestions to make, please don’t hesitate to make them. Anyhow it is a great pleasure to me that you take such an interest in Flush—I only hope you won’t be disappointed by the life when it comes out—some time in the autumn. May I, though from such a distance, offer my best wishes for your and your wife’s happiness? Yours sincerely, Virginia Woolf.”
[Post card addressed to “F.B. Adams Jr., 8 East 69th Street, New York, Etats Unis.”] “France. May 21, 1933. Many thanks for your letter which has been sent on to me here. We are driving through Italy and France. Yours Sincerely, Virginia Woolf.”
Virginia Woolf published the biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s spaniel, Flush, in 1933. The work, though creative and comic, had some discrepancies with the truth, as Woolf herself admits in this correspondence: “But in fact very little is known about him, and I have had to invent a good deal.” Frederick B. Adams, the interested buyer, was an industrialist and cousin to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Superb condition throughout, and needless-to-say that Woolf material of this unique quality and scope is simply irreplaceable.
$26,000.00
