Virginia's Woolf's personal appointment diaries have sold as part of a Sotheby's auction, which was held today (December 12) in London.
 Depression played a major part in Woolf's life after she was instituitionalised in 1904 |
The collection of eight diaries, which span the 1930s until her death in 1941, sold for £73,250 ($118,074), 22% above the high estimate. The last entry was added on February 18, 1941, just one month before she drowned herself.
Within the pages, Woolf records almost 1,000 engagements from 1930 onwards, presenting the details of her literary life. Included are dozens of references to the Bloomsbury Group of which she was part, with names such as TS Eliot and her lover Vita Sackville-West frequently appearing.
Paul Fraser Collectibles is currently offering a limited edition, signed copy of Virginia Woolf's Orlando - a semi-autobiographical novel based on the life of Sackville-West.
A great example of Woolf's literary lifestyle is shown on January 28, 1939 - the author dined with TS Eliot and then met Sigmund Freud at six.
Perhaps the most intriguing element of the diaries are the parts that are simply crossed through with the word bed or ill, which reflects the bouts of depression and nervous exhaustion from which Woolf famously suffered.
