Letter to Vanessa Stephen on her wedding day
Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
Letter to Vanessa Stephen
February 6, 1907
Not uncommon in Victorian families, Woolf and her siblings collaborated on a family newspaper, The Hyde Park Gate News. She hearkened back to that tradition of a mock publication when writing this letter to her sister in the form of an “Address of Congratulation” signed by “Her devoted Beasts.” These consisted of three fictitious apes—Billy (for “Billy Goat,” Woolf’s other childhood nickname), Bartholomew, Mungo—and a wombat (their brother Adrian). The next day, Vanessa would marry the art critic Clive Bell, who figures in this letter as a Red Ape: “We have examined his fur & find it of fine quality, red &; golden at the tips, with an undergrowth of soft down, excellent for winter . . . . His disposition is Affectionate.”
: Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
: William Beekman Collection of Virginia Woolf and Her Circle
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