"They really were the progressives and the embodiment of the avant-garde
in early years of this century. Every time we look at them again they
seem to have something for the contemporary world, whether in sexual
ethics, liberation, biography, economics, feminism or painting."
— Michael Holroyd, in the San
Francisco Chronicle, 1995
"It is a very fascinating, queer, self-absorbed,
fantastic set of people. But they are very interesting..."
— Ray Costelloe, in a letter to Mary Costelloe, 1909
There has been much argument about the boundaries of the Bloomsbury group, even among some of its undisputed members. I have settled upon the following because they are the most often mentioned in diaries, biographies, etc. as actually spending time together. Thus, E.M. Forster, who is often listed as a member, is not on my list.
 Clive Bellan art critic |
 Vanessa (Stephen) Bella painter |
 Roger Fryan art critic and painter |
 Duncan Granta painter |
 John Maynard Keynesan economist |
 Desmond MacCarthya journalist and editor |
 Thoby Stephenthe Cambridge connection |
 Adrian Stephena psychoanalyst |
 Lytton Stracheya historian |
 Saxon Sydney-Turnera civil servant |
 Leonard Woolfa writer, publisher and civil servant |
 Virginia (Stephen) Woolfa writer and publisher |
Some excellent sources of information about the Bloomsbury Group are:
Archive Journeys: Bloomsbury at The Tate Online
The Bloomsbury Group ed. S.P. Rosenbaum ©1995, University of Toronto Press.
Duncan Grant by Frances Spalding ©1998, Pimlico. Out of print, but available through Bibliofind or Alibris.
Lytton Strachey: The New Biography by Michael Holroyd ©1995, Farrar Strauss & Giroux.
Moments of Being by Virginia Woolf ©1985, 1976, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Vanessa Bell by Frances Spalding ©1983, Ticknor & Fields. Out of print, but available through Bibliofind or Alibris.
Virginia Woolf: A Biography by Quentin Bell ©1983, Texas Bookman.
Virginia Woolf by Hermione Lee ©1997, Alfred A. Knopf.
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