HOURS IN A LIBRARY

First Edition, privately printed in a very small number for friends of the publisher, given as greetings for New Year's. Laid in is a card signed by publisher William Jovanovich. with a portrait drawing of Virginia Woolf from a photograph taken of her at age twenty. Small 8vo, publisher's original black boards embossed in blind and lettered in gilt on the upper cover, backed in blue cloth and in the original glassine wrapper. 24pp, A pristine copy, the book and laid-in card both in very fine condition. Even the rare glassine is only lightly aged with a few chips and some rubbing at the extremities, but remains fully intact.

Edizione: a scarce holiday presentation from william jovanovich, who, at this time, was serving as the director of harcourt, brace and comany. in 1970 the firm would change its name to harcourt, brace, jovanovich in his honor.<br> the title to woolf's essay comes from a book published by her father, leslie stephen, in the 1890s. a collection of essays on various authors, it was his most popular publication. woolf's essay includes an introductory note provided by her husband, leonard woolf. he states that hours in a library "gives the truest possible picture of her own attitude to books, to reading, and to the art of literature."