Virginia Woolf's First Voyage, 1977 - 1986

This collection primarily contains materials related to Louise A. DeSalvo’s professional life as a writer, author, and professor. Also included are documents relating to her personal and family life.

The bulk of the collection pertains to DeSalvo’s published works, including books, short stories, and essays. Document types in the Books and Short Writings series include edited drafts, manuscripts, writing journals, reviews, correspondence, copyright permission requests, and research. Of special interest are correspondence and a settlement agreement between DeSalvo and Michael Leaska relating to a dispute over their book, The Letters of Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf.

Also included in the collection is general correspondence from friends and coworkers of DeSalvo. The series includes letters pertaining to both personal and professional matters. Of special interest are correspondence from members of Virginia Woolf’s family, including Quentin Bell, Anne Olivier Bell, and Angelica Garnett, as well as from Vita Sackville-West’s son, Nigel Nicolson.

The Teaching Materials series contains materials relating to her work as a professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University and Hunter College. Document types include university contracts, exams, course outlines, and teaching evaluations.

Also included in this collection is DeSalvo’s dissertation from her PhD program at New York University. The work examines Virginia Woolf’s revision process. The Dissertation and Other Graduate School Materials series also includes correspondence, documents related to her oral defense, and transcripts from her school.

The Journals series includes notebooks detailing her writing process and personal life. The series includes DeSalvo’s travel journals, which relate to trips she took throughout her life and occasionally contain memorabilia.

The collection also contains several planners DeSalvo used. They detail her work schedule as well as personal appointments she made.

The Blog Materials series contains documents relating to the WordPress blog DeSalvo created. The blog, titled Writing A Life, contained posts about her experiences with and thoughts about writing. Document types in this series include printouts of the posts, articles relating to them, and a list of all entries.

The Miscellaneous series includes personal and professional materials. Document types include publicity materials, writers’ group materials, photographs, and drawings. Of special interest are a transcription of an interview DeSalvo did with Warren Padula and a letter from Leonard Woolf to Vita Sackville-West.

Also included in the collection are audiovisual materials in the form of VHS tapes and cassettes. The recordings include interviews of DeSalvo, lectures she gave, and her son Justin DeSalvo learning to read.