Product Description
In his bequest to the Virginia Historical Society, collector Paul Mellon provided a stunningly rare collection of items from American and Virginia history.Among the treasures are a 1603 order from James I "Banishing Rogues to the New Found Lands;" a 1755 map of Virginia by Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson; a 1772 petition from the Virginia House of Burgesses to King George III regarding abolition of the Atlantic slave trade; the only known copy of a broadside announcing the victory at Yorktown in 1781; William Birch's rare folio, "Country Seats of the United States" (1808), one of the first books published in America, Winslow Homer's Civil War "Campaign Sketches" printed in 1865; and much, much more. ... Read more

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"So of course," wrote Betty Flanders, pressing her heels rather deeper in the sand, "there was nothing for it but to leave."Slowly welling from the point of her gold nib, pale blue ink dissolved the full stop; for there her pen stuck; her eyes fixed, and tears slowly filled them. The entire bay quivered; the lighthouse wobbled; and she had the illusion that the mast of Mr. Connor's little yacht was bending like a wax candle in the sun. She winked quickly. Accidents were awful things. She winked again. The mast was straight; the waves were regular; the lighthouse was upright; but the blot had spread. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

Well-written, but not for someone looking for a good story
Let me start off by saying that I read this book for a university class, and that I probably wouldn't have this book from front to back otherwise.That being said, after finishing it for the course, I think the book will appeal to some readers but seem like nonsense to others.Anyone looking for a straight-forward, clear story with a "traditional" literary storyline will be sorely dissappointed.The plot is really choppy and the "storyline" (if you can call it that) doesn't really matter.

Rather, the whole point of the book is it's prose, and Woolf's momentary glances on life and the smallest details of human living.It's also very dense, full of different narrators, and at many times difficult to follow and slow to get through.But some short moments contain brilliance.I might suggest choosing another Woolf novel to read, unless you're looking for a different type of beauty, in which case, choose this one.

I love Virginia Woolfs style!
I found this book to be a pleasant read and I enjoyed Virginia Woolfs discriptive witing style.

A hundred snapshots of a man who can't be seen...

In *Jacob's Room* Virginia Woolf creates a world of quiet desperation. Each character shoulders his or her share of the universal burden we're born to bear as human beings: a mutual exclusivity that cannot be breached no matter how close we get to another. We are separate, lonely creatures, each ultimately unknowable to every other.

An ominous atmosphere of alienation hangs heavily over *Jacob's Room* that is only aggravated by the unceasing attempt of Woolf's dramatis personae to understand Jacob--and Jacob's attempt to understand those trying to understand him. In spite of the best of efforts and intentions of everyone involved--it's all heartbreakingly futile.

*Jacob's Room* is basically a coming-of-age novel but told in a remote omniscient voice that takes up and drops the viewpoints of everyone in Jacob's life, including Jacob, and, ironically, the author herself, who implies that not even she knows exactly who Jacob really is. The writing is sedate, elliptical, nothing much happens in the novel, or it happens "off-stage," leaving its impression on the sediment of what we can see in the superficial mannerisms and conversations of those around us.

Woolf's narration hops around from character to character as if trying to get as many testimonies as possible, as if, in the gestalt of viewpoints, a conclusive portrait of Jacob might emerge. In the end, he's as much of an enigma as ever--and the most remarkable thing is that he's a perfectly ordinary, even rather dull, specimen of human being.

Unless you share Woolf's reflective sensibility, this can be a frustrating "so-what?" sort of book. Beautifully written, *Jacob's Room* is essentially a disquieting meditation on human life, death, and identity in the face of a cold impersonal eternity. It's a cry of despair, almost suicidal at times, neither loud, nor dramatic, and all the more powerful for its quiet certainty of the hopelessness of it all.

Jacob's Nonlinear Narrated Discontented World
By far the greatest virtue of this book is Woolf's deviation from adopting a traditional narrative structure. Although Jacob is the main character of the story, the narration does not solely focus on him, or anything remotely connected to him, or for that matter proceed in a straight chronological order. At least once in the course of the story, the narration goes backwards, forward, digresses, ends abruptly, unfinished, omits transitions, constantly switches what is being narrated, addresses the reader, frequently alternates between different characters point of views, and ends ambiguously.

On the other hand, the content, of what is being narrated, falls woefully short of matching the innovative narration style Woolf adopts. Nothing of any kind of significance occurs in the book; to be quite honest, the events are rather mundane. Two incidents that happened in Jacob's childhood are described, he goes off to college, attends a couple social events, has a couple relationships with girls, travels to France and Italy, and gets into a couple of fights with his friend Bonamy.

So, since one aspect of the novel (the structure) speaks in its favor, and another aspect (the content) speaks against it, is this a book you should read?To be fair, I should mention that there is actually more content in the book, it just happens to be implicitly implied throughout most of the book, but becomes apparent towards the book's end.

Buried within the story's unspectacular content, is Woolf's discontent with society. She ridicules the writing of letters, the leaving of calling cards, gossip, and women's obsession with fashion. Jacob calls people beastly, feels disgusted at social gatherings he attends, the describes the happiest moment of his life as be completely isolated from humanity and society atop a mountain, has an interest in politics because he wants to change the world, and as war descend upon the world, he leaves his possessions behind and bids society adieu. And perhaps the most important thing to point out is that pretty much everyone that sees Jacob, comments that he is beautiful. I think that his outer appearance is a reflection of his inner self; he is beautiful because by being aloof and critical of society, he has not been tainted by it.

All this can be read as Woolf agreeing with Rousseau about the corrosive affects society has on man. Society instead of ennobling and enlightening man has quite the opposite effect; society corrupts man.

So, if breaking with tradition and discontentment are your cup of tea, then this is the book for you.

The Best Fiction by Woolf - Or Close To Her Best
Virginia Woolf (1882 - 1941) was a well known writer, critic, feminist, and publisher. This was her third novel.

As background information, I read her first novel "The Voyage Out" published in 1915, skipped her second novel - which is considered to be a flop, Night and Day from 1919 - and then read "Jacob's Room," her third, then went on and read "Mrs. Dalloway," her fourth, and next read "To The Lighthouse," etc. Also, I read some of Woolf's non-fiction.

"The Voyage Out" is simple and straightforward work and it might remind the reader of a Jane Austen novel, but it set on a ship and then at a remote location. It is over 400 pages long, and has an Austen theme. After her second novel - which did not do very well - Woolf decided to be more risky and creative with the next book. She changed her style and approach to the novel and Woolf uses the stream of consciousness technique to bring a sense of the chaos and shortness of a young man's life around the time of World War I, Jacob's life, i.e.: from the pandemonium of Jacob's life as portrayed by Woolf through the use of the stream of the consciousness technique, we eventually have clarity in the novel. She carries this writing style on into the similarly chaotic story in the novel "Mrs. Dalloway."

The present story is about a young man Jacob Flanders who goes to Cambridge as a student, then he goes on a trip to Italy and Greece, and then returns and goes on to fight in World War I. Without giving away any of the critical plot elements and possibly ruining the enjoyment of reading the book, one can say that this is a bit of an odd book. It starts slowly; the reader is not certain what Woolf is trying to accomplish and where she is going with the story. But if you stay with the read one gets into the stream of consciousness feel and rythm which gives a strong feeling or sensation to what Woolf is trying to achieve.

This is an excellent novel written by Woolf at her prime and is similar to Mrs.Dalloway but covers a different subject matter. Her approach lends itself to the subject and it is quite effective as in "Mrs. Dalloway." If you want to read a conventional novel by Woolf, then I recommend her first novel, "The Voyage Out."

In any case, I enjoyed the read and recommend it as a good example of Virginia Woolf's writing.
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Product Description
Presents the history, economy, culture, and people of the Virginia colony from the early Indian settlements to the Revolution. Includes brief biographies of prominent Virginians of the period from Powhatan to Thomas Jefferson and Henry Lee. ... Read more

Product Description
Publisher: Richmond, D. Bottom, superintendent of public printingPublication date: 1913Subjects: Virginia. MilitiaNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

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A statement about the promise and perils of the American experiment, and written in 1780 during Jefferson's first term as governor of Virginia, this text is at once a scientific discourse, an attempt to define America and an examination of the idea of freedom. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Notes on the state of Virginia
This is a little dryer than I thought it would be. Very factual and less personal. I did find information about the incident I was interested in so was worth my purchase.

Notes on the State of Virginia
Jefferson's (my hero) only published book gave me yet another insight into the Monticello....thanks for the very old book's copy!

This was obviously never proofread.
The text of the 10.55 paperback edition is nearly illegible. Some pages are entirely in computer code, and there are countless severe typographical errors on every page. If you have any intention of reading this text, do not buy the copy pictured on the product page.

Notes on the State of Virginia
I never received this book !

Notes on the State of Virginia (Penguin Classics) (Purchased on 04/24/2009)

Caveat Emptor
This is a comment on the quality of the binding...not the content of the book (which I haven't read).I ordered this as a gift and specifically chose the "hardbound" copy instead of the "paperback" because it was a gift and I assumed at the price ($63.96) that it would be beautifully bound and keepsake quality.I was nothing less than shocked to receive a small book bound in the manner of children's books.(For those familiar with Nancy Drew books, it's about that size with that type of binding...thin plastic over cardboard and no dust jacket.)I am returning this and ordering the paperback version and using the remaining $50 to buy another gift to go along with it. ... Read more

Product Description
askSam, a text-based data management system, is used to automate public, academic, county and government libraries, as well as libraries in corporate and other special environments. Included are discussions of reference, cataloguing, serials, acquisitions, interlibrary loan, database, graphics and telecommunications issues. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1910.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
Drawing on Hayes's previous work in Strategic Management for Academic Libraries, this professional reference addresses the unique circumstances and needs of public libraries and provides thorough guidance on how to manage change successfully in the community library environment. The volume provides a conceptual framework for strategic management, identifies its major concerns and relationships to the tactical and operational management of public libraries, discusses the particular problems and needs of community libraries, and details the assessment of the library's strategic position. The final section of the book offers extensive practical information for formulating and implementing strategic management in the public library setting. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

disappointing to professionals
There is too much rambling, not enough specific help and examples, and the index is terrible. Please read the review of this in "The Library Quarterly" vol 67, Oct 1997, #4, pp406-408 ... Read more