Virginia Woolf and the Hogarth Press

Dense exhibition at Charleston Farmhouse looking at the history of the Hogarth Press.

The press was started by Virginia and her husband Leonard in 1917 with the aim of publishing authors with radial new voices who might otherwise not get into print. They also treated books as art objects, commissioning striking book covers.

I say dense about this show as the displays were mainly of books and it was very text heavy in its explanations. I am a self-confessed Bloomsbury nerd so I loved it, but I imagine if you were new to the subject it might leave you a bit cold.

I was at the house for the start of the Charleston Festival so followed up my visit to the exhibition with the first two talks of the event, both on the Hogarth Press. The first brought together two current publishers with a similar ethos, Margaret Busby and Sharmiane Lovergrove in conversation with Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize.  This was followed by a gala style performance with Anton Lesser reading pieces from Leonard about the press and an array of excellent actors reading sections from the books. A fun event but a bit long on what turned out to be a very cold night.

Closes 6 September 2026