On Being Ill

by Virginia Woolf

Introduction by Hermione Lee

Cover art by Vanessa Bell

In this poignant and humorous work, Virginia Woolf observes that though illness is a part of every human being’s experience, it has rarely been the focus of literature–like the more acceptable subjects of war and love. We cannot quote Shakespeare to describe a headache. We must, Woolf says, invent language to describe pain. Illness enhances our perceptions and, she observes, it reduces self-consciousness; it is "the great confessional." Woolf discusses the taboos associated with illness and she explores how it changes our relationship to the world around us.

On Being Ill was published as an individual volume by The Hogarth Press in 1930. While other Woolf essays, such as A Room of One's Own and Three Guineas, were first published by The Hogarth Press as individual volumes and have since been widely available, On Being Ill has been overlooked. The Paris Press edition features original cover art by Woolf's sister, the painter Vanessa Bell. Hermione Lee's Introduction discusses this "extraordinary" work, and explores Woolf's revelations about poetry, language, and illness.

"The resurrection of this forgotten work on illness is a boom indeed. Written between two of Woolf's greatest novels, Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse, this is Woolf at her spangled best. Seemingly a cascade of gossamer thoughts, her prose is in fact as tightly knit, strongly patterned, impervious, and purposeful as a fisherman's sweater. . . . Insightfully and eloquently introduced by renowned Woolf biographer Hermione Lee, this scintillating and important addition to the Woolf canon is graced by Vanessa Bell's cover for the 1930 Hogarth Press edition."
— Donna Seaman, Booklist