The Voyage Out by Woolf, Virginia - 1915

London: Duckworth & Co, 1915. First Edition. Trial Binding. Very Good. First edition, first printing. [iv], 458, [6, 16 ads] pp. The author's first book. Bound in what appears to be a publisher's trial binding: dark blue cloth triple ruled in blind on upper board, with spine lettered in gilt and decorated with floral device in blind; lacking the dust jacket. J. Kirkpatrick notes a similar apparition appearing almost three-quarters of a century ago in A Bibliography of Virginia Woolf, "a copy in red cloth, lettered in gold on the spine and on the upper cover, with the floral device and motto in blind on the lower cover, was advertised in Raphael King Ltd's catalogue No. 52 (1951) and is now in the Robert H. Taylor Collection, Princeton University Library. It is probably a trial binding." In contrast, the usual binding is green cloth with the spine lettered in gilt, and paneled title block in black to upper board. Very Good. Lean to binding. Small, faint stain to front cover. Spine lightly rubbed at ends, slightly faded and gilt dulled. Top edge dust-soiled. Foxing to textblock edge, preliminary, terminal pages. Woolf began writing her first novel in 1910 and completed several drafts before its publication in 1915. It was a difficult five years for Woolf in which she suffered from bouts of depression and a suicide attempt, but the final work contained seeds of what would later become her trademark: an innovative narrative style, a focus on feminine consciousness, sexuality and death.