To the Lighthouse
A Norton Critical Edition
17 November 2023
Description
“One of Woolf's most beloved novels, To the Lighthouse, finally gets a Norton Critical Edition. In Margaret Homans, To the Lighthouse has an ideal editor, for Homans brings her deep knowledge of the Victorian world Woolf portrays, her long admiration for
This Norton Critical Edition includes:
• The American edition of the novel, first published by Harcourt Brace in 1927, introduced and annotated by Margaret Homans.
• A 1924-28 chronology of To the Lighthouse’s composition, revision, publication and reception.
• A rich selection of background materials, thematically organized for ease of reference. Topics include: “Autobiographical Writings,” “Family and Other Contemporary Contexts and Sources,” “Essays by Virginia Woolf,” and “Literary Sources.”
• Nine critical assessments of To the Lighthouse, from publication to the present day, by Arthur Sydney McDowell, Louis Kronenberger, Mary Colum, Francis Brown, Erich Auerbach, Adrienne Rich, Rachel Bowlby, Pamela L. Caughie, and Urmila Seshagiri.
• A chronology and a selected bibliography
Reviews
"Margaret Homans’ vision of To the Lighthouse is replete. A magnificent array of contexts complements the annotated text, including familial and literary sources for the novel; a chronology of its composition and reception; early reviews; and scholarly interpretations addressing gender, empire, and the role of the artist. The introduction considers the novel’s debt to philosophy, its structure and style, its revelation of the social changes wrought by World War I, and the effect of its Scottish setting. Having studied Woolf with Margaret Homans as an undergraduate, I am delighted that her thoughtful teaching is now widely available in this wonderful classroom edition." — Emily Kopley, McGill University