Moments of Being
Encyclopedia
Moments of Being is a collection of posthumously-published autobiographical essays by Virginia Woolf
. The collection was first found in the papers of her husband, used by Quentin Bell
in Woolf's biography, published in 1972. In 1976, they were edited for publication by Jeanne Schulkind. The second edition was published in 1985. The original texts are now housed at Sussex University and in the British Library
in London
.
"22 Hyde Park Gate", "Old Bloomsbury" and "Am I a Snob?" were written for the Memoir Club, a group formed in 1920 by Molly MacCarthy, who met to present honest autobiographical papers.
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
. The collection was first found in the papers of her husband, used by Quentin Bell
Quentin Bell
Quentin Claudian Stephen Bell was an English art historian and author.Bell was the son of Clive Bell and Vanessa Bell , and the nephew of Virginia Woolf . He was educated in London and at the Quaker Leighton Park School.Principally an artist, as a potter, he was drawn to academia...
in Woolf's biography, published in 1972. In 1976, they were edited for publication by Jeanne Schulkind. The second edition was published in 1985. The original texts are now housed at Sussex University and in the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Title
The title for the collection was chosen by its original editor, Jeanne Schulkind, based on a passage from "Sketch of the Past". As described by Woolf, 'moments of being' are moments in which an individual experiences a sense of reality, in contrast to the states of 'non-being' that dominate most of an individual's conscious life, in which they are separated from reality by a protective covering. Moments of being could be a result of instances of shock, discovery or revelation.Contents
Moments of Being consists of 5 autobiographical essays:- "Reminisces" (1907)
- "A Sketch of the PastA Sketch of the PastA Sketch of the Past is an autobiographical essay written by Virginia Woolf in 1939. It was written as a break from writing her biography of Roger Fry, English artist and critic, and fellow member of The Bloomsbury Group...
" (1938) - "22 Hyde Park Gate" (1920/1)
- "Old Bloomsbury" (1921/2)
- "Am I a Snob?" (1936)
"22 Hyde Park Gate", "Old Bloomsbury" and "Am I a Snob?" were written for the Memoir Club, a group formed in 1920 by Molly MacCarthy, who met to present honest autobiographical papers.