Virginia Woolf's scrapbooks, particularly for Three Guineas, are legendary. Her book's discussion of women's role in preventing war literally grew out of the clippings she collected from 1931 through 1937 (Silver 255-314; TG RN).What may be less well-known is that Leslie Stephen also seems to have collected newspaper clippings and combined those with a trip to the United States in 1863 to gather “powder and shot,” in Frederic Maitland's words, “for use in England” (108). Not to “blow up St. Pauls” (D4 77), but to condemn the Times for what Stephen called its “criminal” coverage of the United States Civil War (T 92). Published in 1865, Stephen's 105-page pamphlet builds a case for the Times ’ “total ignorance of the quarrel,” lack of consistency in reporting on it, and inexcusable abuse of Americans (T 105-06).

Before looking at Stephen's argument, reactions to it, and legacy, I should point out I am not a Civil War historian. Dipping into sources for this presentation, I quickly realized I was entering a thicket from which I might never emerge. I have learned more about the Trent affair, Laird rams, Lancashire cotton, Times correspondents, and battle ins and outs than I ever wanted to know, but I resisted including that learning here. I have rapidly consulted only a few of the numerous sources available, primarily those related to Stephen's critique of England's newspaper of record, but this paper should not be taken as the final word but a way to open up this subject for further investigation. Stephen's pamphlet still has relevance for anyone trying to sort out media power and responsibility.

Virginia Woolf confesses in “A Sketch of the Past” to not knowing her sociable father, to having difficulty imagining the man who must have worn evening dress and told jokes (114). She claims she can “get” her writer father in his works, but the writer she “take[s] a bite of […] medicinally” (115), seems to be the highly regarded Victorian man of letters in his 50s and 60s, not the young man starting over and constructing a writing career in his early 30s.