[Vwoolf] A Woolf quotation? Probably not...

[Neverow, Vara S.]

Dear Woolves,

Karen Levenback and I (and the IVWS and the VWSGB) have received an email from someone who indicates that she is working for Tiffany & Co and wants to find out about permission to use the phrase below.
I am reaching out to inquire about obtaining permission to use the following quote, which is widely attributed to Virginia Woolf.
"In case you ever foolishly forget:  I am never not thinking of you."
Our client, Tiffany & Co, would like to incorporate this quote in their upcoming campaign and want to ensure we handle any necessary permission appropriately.  Could you kindly confirm if this quote is part of Woolf's works or if there are any rights associated with its use?
As far as I can determine, the phrase, which shows up on Etsy and Goodreads and so forth, was invented anonymously and might be associated with something Woolf actually wrote (similar to Woolf's own phrasing that became "For most of history, Anonymous was a woman"). I suppose it could also have been drawn from the play or the film version of Vita and Virginia (or from one of the novels on Woolf). In a search on Google Books and Google Scholar and the Kindle version of Virginia Woolf: The Complete Works not one instance of the phrase appeared. (In the Kindle version, "Foolishly" shows up in Woolf's writing only 18 times--and not one instance is part of that phrase.)
Regarding this search, I have alerted the person who has contacted the Woolf societies and the Miscellany that I am asking Woolf scholars and common readers to ponder the query. It would be interesting to know more about the origin and history of the phrase.
Best,
Vara
Vara Neverow
(she/her/hers)
Professor, English Department
Editor, Virginia Woolf Miscellany
Southern Connecticut State University
New Haven, CT 06515
203-392-6717
neverowv1 at southernct.edu


I acknowledge that Southern Connecticut State University was built on traditional territory of the indigenous peoples and nations of the Paugussett and Quinnipiac peoples.


Recent Publications:

Lead editor, Virginia Woolf: Critical and Primary Sources (Bloomsbury, 2020; with Jeanne Dubino, Kathryn Simpson, and Gill Lowe); Editor, Volume One, 1975-1984, Virginia Woolf: Critical and Primary Sources (Bloomsbury, 2020); Co-editor, The Edinburgh Companion to Virginia Woolf and Contemporary Global Literature (Edinburgh, 2020; with Jeanne Dubino, Paulina Pająk, Catherine Hollis, and Celiese Lypka)

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