Hogarth Press published Woolf’s “The Mark on the Wall” originally in pamphlet form, and then later in a collection of short stories. Formed by Woolf and her husband, Leonard Woolf, the press occupies a storied position in 20th-century arts and letters.
Leonard and Virginia had discussed printing for a time, especially as writing was proving very stressful for Virginia and she had been fascinated by bookbinding as a young woman, and their attention was caught by the window display at Excelsior Printing Supply Company. They entered and purchased a small booklet telling them how to accomplish this, and then they moved quickly in procuring a small hand-printing press, Old Face type, and other accouterments. They named their press "Hogarth Press" after their home, Hogarth House. Though Hogarth Press was supposed to be a hobby, it became a prominent part of the Woolfs’ lives. Woolf wrote her sister, “We get so absorbed we can’t stop; I see that real printing will devour one’s entire life.”
The first thing they printed was Two Stories, which came out in July 1917 and contained “Three Jews” by Leonard and “The Mark on the Wall” by Virginia. According to the British Library, “although not without its faults, [Two Stories] was a good first attempt, and it was clear that a lot of effort had gone into making the publication attractive. The book was type set, printed, stitched and bound by Leonard and Virginia in an edition of 150 copies. Most of the copies were sold to friends and acquaintances.” Journalist Rafia Zakaria writes of the early days: “It almost lived up to all these weighty expectations. Those first afternoons, when Leonard and Virginia sat covered in ink in the drawing room of Hogarth House, learning by trial and error just how hard it was to set type and centre it on the page, were charmed ones. The experience was a simulacrum of the creative process: the beloved final product did not always reflect the pains of its production. But the labours of printing always delivered the satisfaction of a real and tangible object. The press also fulfilled a desire for creative freedom that both Leonard and Virginia had craved.”
Part of the press’s success was the lack of overhead, but they were also able to publish works from their talented friends such as T.S. Eliot, Clive Bell, Sigmund Freud, Katherine Mansfield, and E.M. Forster. The press attained more widespread recognition when it published Kew Gardens by Virginia in 1919. A favorable review in the Times Literary Supplement brought a deluge of orders, and the couple turned to a commercial printer; they would continue to do this for very large orders, but they continued to press smaller, hand-printed works in their home until 1932. The small works were supplemented with a larger printing press purchased in 1921, and the popularity of the works meant that Hogarth Press was now truly a largely commercial publisher. Leonard and Virginia sold directly to booksellers and took on their own succession of assistants and managers.
Woolf was able to publish her third novel, Jacob’s Room, through Hogarth in 1922. The press also became known for translations; 29 came out in the years 1917-1946. The British Library explains its significance: “The Hogarth Press has made a significant contribution to modernism, publishing what are now considered some of the key texts in the development of the movement with works by Katherine Mansfield and T.S. Eliot, notably the first English edition of The Waste Land (1923), and of course works by Virginia Woolf. The press was also known for its pamphlet series on a range of literary and political topics and, by not being overly concerned about the commercial value of publications, the Woolfs were willing to risk publishing unknown authors and books on fairly obscure topics. Despite this, they did have some bestsellers, particularly Virginia’s Orlando (1928) and Vita Sackville-West’s The Edwardians (1930), which sold almost 30,000 copies in the first six months of publication.”
The Woolf association with Hogarth ended in 1946 (Virginia had died in 1941), having published 527 titles, and Hogarth now exists as a literary imprint under Random House.
