Another weird book thing

Okay, so.  Full disclosure to start out with: I read SF/F mostly.  When I read classic-slash-historical literature it’s either Alcott/Montgomery/Burnett or somebody really obscure like Grace Livingston Hill.  I know who Virginia Woolf was, but her impact on my radar was negligible.  

That said, I’ve read a scrap or two from her letters to Vita Sackville-West, contained in a book about writing letters (lots of quotes).  She sounded interesting, and kind of fun, but I didn’t really think about it for years.  

Mind you, I have a fondness for certain epistolary collections, both fictional and real.  Griffin and Sabine, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, 84 Charing Cross Road, They Stand Together.  All favorites.  So when Woolf came to my attention again recently, I thought I might as well see if there was a collection of her letters with Sackville-West, and maybe give it a try.  

Here’s the weird.  

There’s a collection, sure.  The Letters of Vita Sackville-West to Virginia Woolf, dated 1992 (or 1984, depending).  Edited by Louise DeSalvo and Mitchell Leaska.  There’s also The Letters of Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf, ed. same, dated 2001 on Wikipedia and 2004 on Amazon.  

Note the slight change in the title.  

DeSalvo’s Wiki page only lists the 2001 version (Leaska doesn’t have a page).  ISBNs waver between old and new, paperback and hardcover.  It’s worth noting that most of the copies I can find for sale start at $50 and go way up from there.  

Now, I’m puzzled.  Is this the same thing, reprinted and with a tweaked title?  Or is it with fresh editing and notes?  Does the later version have more letters, both sides of the conversation instead of one?  

At this point, I’d like to buy a copy (but not at $130 plus shipping, thank you) but I’d like it to be the most recent version, if there is such a thing.  They Stand Together is endless delight but it’s also tantalizing since it’s so one-sided.  If Woolf’s letters have been added to the volume, all the better.  

Can’t find the info, though.  

I have emailed the 2001/2004 publisher, Cleis Press, in hopes that they can tell me something.  When I looked a couple of days ago, there was no listing for the title (not surprising after twenty-plus years) but today a search for Leaska turned up a mention of it on the site.  

It seems like it shouldn’t be this hard to find the data, but - even 2004 wasn’t that far along in the evolution of the Internet.  I’m a little surprised that the title/s is/are so obscure, given the perennial popularity and interest of both writers - and there’s only one collection of letters? - but there it is.  

It will be interesting to see if Cleis Press writes me back.  One never knows.