The First French Jacob ’ s Room by Jeanne Lichnerowicz: Women ’ s Agency in Translation

This analysis of the correspondence between Virginia Woolf and Jeanne Lichnerowicz from 1926 to 1931 illuminates the complex dynamics underlying the first, fragmentary publication of Jacob’s Room in French. Digitized letters at the Modernist Archives Publishing Project (MAPP) grant access to The Hogarth Press Archives, uncovering the controversial role played by Lichnerowicz’s French translation of the novel. Indexed documents also provide a foundational understanding of the editorial context surrounding the excerpts which appeared across several French periodicals. Consequently, the dialogue between Woolf’s works and contemporary contributions by Italian, French, and Spanish authors elucidates the broader dynamics of transnational debates on modernism. The recovery of Woolf and Lichnerowicz’s correspondence also offers a compelling case study of women professionals operating within the interwar publishing industry. Their exchanges involve two of the most influential French publishing houses of the time, Librairie Gallimard and Librairie Stock, which negotiated with Leonard and Virginia Woolf for the rights of La Chambre de Jacob, ultimately appeared in 1942 by Stock, translated by Jean Talva.