John Steinbeck in 1939 Born

Dreadnought hoax 1910[edit]

Main article: Dreadnought hoax

The Dreadnought hoaxers in Abyssinian regalia, 1910 (Virginia Stephen far left with beard)

Several members of the group attained notoriety in 1910 with the Dreadnought hoax, which Virginia participated in disguised as a male Abyssinian royal. Her complete 1940 talk on the hoax was discovered and is published in the memoirs collected in the expanded edition of The Platform of Time (2008).^[172]

Brunswick Square (1911–1912)[edit]

In October 1911, the lease on Fitzroy Square was running out and Virginia and Adrian decided to give up their home on Fitzroy Square in favour of a different living arrangement, moving to a four-storied house at 38 Brunswick Square in Bloomsbury proper^[y] in November. Virginia saw it as a new opportunity; "We are going to try all kinds of experiments", she told Ottoline Morrell.^[171] Adrian occupied the second floor, with Maynard Keynes and Duncan Grant sharing the ground floor.^[176] This arrangement for a single woman was considered scandalous, and George Duckworth was horrified. The house was adjacent to the Foundling Hospital, much to Virginia's amusement as an unchaperoned single woman.^[173] Originally, Ka Cox was supposed to share in the arrangements, but opposition came from Rupert Brooke, who was involved with her and pressured her to abandon the idea.^[171] At the house, Duncan Grant decorated Adrian Stephen's rooms (see image).^[177]