Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway was published on May 14, 1925 by Hogarth Press, the publishing house Woolf ran with her husband, Leonard Woolf. The original cover was created by Woolf’s sister Vanessa Bell, who would design a total 0f 38 books for the press. Famously, Bell’s designs were “universally condemned amongst booksellers,” but Woolf didn’t care. “Your our style is unique, because so truthful,” Woolf told her, “and therefore it upsets one completely.”
There are flowers on Bell’s cover for Mrs. Dalloway, and 100 years later, there are still flowers on almost every design to have graced the book. If there are no flowers, then there must be a woman, usually with a hat, often in repose. The saturated, surprisingly modern yellow with which Bell accented her design is still prevalent. A few have no flowers, nor women, but planes. A few are complete headscratchers.
To celebrate the book’s birthday, I’ve collected a hundred of its covers here. There are probably a hundred more. I have avoided most of the new, e-book only covers; in 2021, the novel entered the public domain, which means that pretty much anyone can sell it on Amazon with a cover they made in Canva. I have been as accurate as possible with publication dates, though sometimes covers are repeated and reused, which can make precise dating decades after the fact a bit tricky. Otherwise, I’ve just had some fun thinking about all these takes on one of my favorite novels. Hopefully you will too.
The Hogarth Press, first edition, designed by Vanessa Bell (1925)
Harcourt Brace & Co., first American edition; image via AbeBooks (1925)
The Modern Library (1928)
Another early Modern Library edition (1928); image via AbeBooks
First French edition, Librairie Stock Delamain et Boutelleau (1929)
First Italian edition, Mondadori (1946)
First Dutch translation, by Nini Brunt; Van Oorschot (1948)
Harcourt, Brace & World, First Harvest Book Edition, design by Janet Halverson (1953); image via The Bookend
French edition, Le livre de poche (1956)
The Hogarth Press (1960)
Romanian edition, Editura Pentru Literatura Universala (1968)
Penguin Modern Classics, with a painting by Vanessa Bell (1973)
Slovak edition, Smena (1976)
Granada Publishing UK; image via Country House Library (1978)
French edition; Livre de Poche (1982)
Portuguese edition; Editora Ulisseia; design by Luiz Duran (1982)
Spanish edition, Lumen (1983)
Harvest/HBJ (1985)
Bulgarian edition, Народна култура (1989)
HarperCollins, The Virginia Woolf Library Authorized Edition (1990)
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (1990)
Harcourt Trade Publishers (1990)
Quality Paperback Book Club (1992)
Everyman’s Library Classics (1993)
Lithuanian edition, Žaltvykslė (1994)
Norwegian edition, De norske bokklubbene (1994)
Penguin Books (1996)
Harcourt, movie tie-in cover (1997)
Wordsworth Classics; design by Robert Mathias, art by Becky Surridge (1998)
Wordsworth Classics (1999)
Penguin Books (2000)
Broadview Press (2000)
Penguin Modern Classics (2000)
Oxford World’s Classics (2000)
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2002)
German edition, Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag (2003)
Vintage Classics (c. 2004)
Vintage (2004)
Slovak edition, Odeon (2004)
Greek edition, Μεταίχμιο (2005)
Romanian edition, RAO (2007)
Penguin Books; designed by Angus Hyland (2011)
enguin Essentials Edition; design by Leanne Shapton (2011)
Swedish edition, Albert Bonniers Förlag, illustrated by Sara R Acedo (2011)
The Folio Society (2011)
Vintage Classics (2012)
Georgian edition, პალიტრა (2012)
Broadview Press (2012)
Romanian edition, Humanitas (2012)
Portuguese edition, Autêntica (2013)
Spanish edition, Lumen (2013)
German edition, Anaconda Verlag (2014)
Portuguese edition, Livros do Brasil (2015)
Vintage Classics; designed by Aino-Maija Metsola (2016)
Polish edition; Społeczny Instytut Wydawniczy Znak (2016)
Turkish edition, Aylak Adam (2016)
Portuguese edition, Coleção Folha Grandes Nomes Da Literatura (2016)
Italian edition, Newton Compton (2016)
Portuguese edition, Penguin Companhia das Letras (2017)
Macmillan Popular Classics (2017)
Spanish edition, Debolsillo (2017)
Spanish edition, Mirlo (2017)
Turkish edition, Nora (2017)
Penguin English Library Edition (2018)
Spanish edition, The Letter Factory (2018)
French edition, Tibert Editions (2018)
Penguin Books (2019)
Penguin Modern Classics (2020)
Penguin Clothbound Classics (2020)
Portuguese edition, Antofágica (2020)
Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition (2021)
Vintage Classics (2021)
Norton Critical Editions (2021)
Dover Thrift Editions (2021)
Martino Fine Books (2021)
Portuguese edition, Novo Século (2021)
Macmillan Collector’s Library (2021)
Atlantic Publishers and Distributors (2021)
Portuguese edition, Martin Claret (2021)
Spanish edition, Rosetta Edu (2022)
Wordsworth Collector’s Editions (2022)
Word Cloud Classics (2022)
Penguin Vitae (2022)
Picador; combined edition with The Hours; design by Pablo Delcan (2022)
OM Books International (2022)
Ukrainian edition, Комубук (2022)
Warbler Press (2023)
Ridge Press (2023)
Union Square & Co., Signature Classics (2023)
Italian edition, Newton Compton (2023)
Union Square & Co., Signature Editions (2023)
Portuguese edition, Antofágica Editoria (2023)
Spanish edition, Editorial Alma (2023)
Legend Classics (2023)
Penguin Select Classics (2024)
Revive Classics (2024)
Swedish edition, Albert Bonniers Förlag (2025)
Dutch edition, De Bezige Bij (2025)
Zenith Evergreen Literary Co. (2025)
Greek edition, Μεταίχμιο (2025)
