One of the most memorable days during the years-long process of editing The Letters of Sylvia Plath was the day that copies of 16 letters to Ted Hughes and 18 letters to Edith and William Hughes, his parents, arrived at my doorstep. I vaguely knew they were coming but that hardly actually prepares one to see an envelope, with my name written on it in Frieda Hughes' distinctive hand, appearing in the mailbox at the end of the driveway. I pulled it out of mailbox gingerly, like it was the most fragile object in the world. When I opened it, I'm pretty sure I squeaked. Truly. The black and white photocopies provided enough information about the letters to make transcription possible. There were a smattering of copies of envelopes included, some of which belonged to letters not included in the bounty of stuff Frieda sent. Which begs the eternal question: where are the letters that were stuffed into these envelopes? Who wrote it? Plath? Hughes? Both? And what would their Hollywood...

In 2017, Eva gave me a tomato soup cake that she made (frosting on the side and as I have no pride left I can admit that I ate what did not make it onto the cake directly out of the jar with a spoon. It was that good).  Plath's tomato soup spice cake is fairly legendary. Plath herself mentions it just once in her letters (15 September 1961, from Court Green;  Letters,  Vol. II , p. 649, Amazon ) and no times, that I could find, in her journals. Plath did make several references to it in her 1962 Letts tablet. On 22, 25, and 26 February and 10 May. The cake has a life of its own on the internet, frequently being written about, but always using someone else's recipe. Until now. Lot 45 of Frieda Hughes' auction of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes items includes some recipe cards and a rolling pin. One of the recipes is "her" Tomato Soup Spice Cake. I say "her", in quotes, but really the recipe is not Sylvia Plath's at all. Sotheby's did not include the...

Next week, on 25 March 2020, an unfinished drawing by Sylvia Plath will be up for auction via International Autograph Auctions Europe S.L. The official Lot number is Lot 437. Bidding can be done online. As far as I can tell the auction is going forward. The description for the auction reads: PLATH SYLVIA: (1932-1963) American Poet, wife of Ted Hughes from 1956 until her death. A good, original pencil drawing, unsigned, one page, 8vo, n.p., n.d. Plath has drawn an appealing image of an old street scene with an empty wooden cart abandoned in the foreground and several buildings in the immediate background including a church tower, the spire of which features a cross at its highest point and which Plath has carefully heightened in dark fountain pen ink. Annotated and signed to the verso in pencil, 'By Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes', by her husband, the English Poet Laureate. Any original item in the hand of Plath is extremely rare and desirable as a result of the poet's tr...

Bonhams will offer two small Sylvia Plath lots in their 11 November 2015 sale at Knightsbridge in London . "The Mummy's Tomb", from Bonhams Lot 120 features an "Autograph manuscript of her early story 'The Mummy's Tomb', headed by her: ' The Mummy's Tomb / by Sylvia Plath/ May 17, 1946". The estimate is £1,500 - 2,000 (US$ 2,300 - 3,100). The lot details read: "Autograph manuscript of her early story 'The Mummy's Tomb', headed by her: "The Mummy's Tomb/ by Sylvia Plath/ May 17, 1946", opening: "I had come to the museum to do some research work on Egypt for my history notebook...", recounting the gothic tale of a girl's nocturnal visit to a display of mummies and her encounter with their sinister keeper ("...'Ha!' he leered, 'you got away yesterday, but you won't now. I'll muffle your screams of anguish and let you die from loss of blood and in terrible pain. Yo...

The 2 December 2014 auction of Sylvia Plath manuscripts , typescripts, lecture notes, artwork, a letter and photographs, among other items, is a massive treasure of her "early" works. The auction was held today in New York City as Lot 121 of the Fine Books & Manuscripts, including Americana Sale N09237. The lot came in at an estimate of $150,000-$250,000 and was one of the highest estimates to its point in the auction. While there were bids, starting at $90,000 and ending at $120,000, the lot unfortunately failed to sell, likely not meeting a reserve. Watch the video here . Who wants to take a trip on the Sylvia Plath Time Machine? A provenance note on the auction catalog indicates the material originally sold, also by Sotheby's, at auction on 6 April 1982. The auction took place around the time of some major Sylvia Plath publications: The Collected Poems came out on 25 November 1981; The Journals of Sylvia Plath (abridged) came out on 31 March 1982; and the an...

Sotheby's is auctioning a major archive of Sylvia Plath materials including stories, poems, a letter, photographs, lecture notes and other items in New York City on 2 December 2014. It's all I can do not to pass out. Sylvia Plath: AN ARCHIVE OF PLATH'S EARLY POETRY AND SHORT STORIES (BOTH MANUSCRIPT AND TYPESCRIPT), COLLEGE LECTURE NOTES, A TYPED LETTER, AND TWO SELF-PORTRAITS IN INK AND CRAYON. WELLESLEY AND NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS, C. 1946–1954 The archive comprises: Short stories. Autograph manuscripts and typescripts, 1946–1953 where dated, as follows: 1) "On the Penthouse Roof," autograph manuscript in pencil, 3 1/2 pp., 18 May 1946. 2) "The Mummy's Tomb," autograph manuscript in pencil, 4 pp., 17 May 1946. 3) "Gramercy Park," typescript with a few corrections, 6 pp. [1948]. 4) "The Green Rock," two typescripts, one corrected, 11 and 12 pp. 5) "The International Flavor," two typescripts, one corre...

On 10 July at Sotheby's, the Joseph Conrad collection Collection from the Library of the late Stanley J. Seeger - Part I goes for sale in London. Of the 193 lots, one in particular strikes the fancy of this Sylvia Plath-o-phile... Lot number 31 . The description of Sylvia Plath's copy of Lord Jim reads: "8vo. Sylvia Plath's copy, bearing her signed bookplate and extensively underlined with numerous annotations by her, additionally annotated by Ted Hughes ("I read this novel, this copy, aloud | to Sylvia, in the evenings, while | she was making her rag rug - 1962. | Ted Hughes" on rear free endpaper, original red brown cloth lettered in gilt on spine and upper cover, dust-jacket, extremities bumped and sunned, occasional scribbles in green felt-tip, significant loss to dust-jacket" The estimate is £6,000-8,000. News of this copy coming up for sale was featured in " Sylvia Plath's copy of Lord Jim on sale as part of huge Joseph Conrad a...

On 25 June , I mentioned that a self-portrait by Sylvia Plath was going to be auctioned via Sotheby's today, 14 July, in Lot 98. The estimate was between 3,000 and 5,000 GBP. The item did sell for 3,750 GBP including buyers premiums. The self-portrait dates from July 25, 1949, this is roughly three and a half months before her famous diary entry on November 13, 1949 .

A couple times since 2009, I have mentioned items at auction, including the Sotheby’s Sold Lot Archive which is an amazing time capsule into fine, unique, and rare Plath related items that have come and gone on and off the market. Below is a list of those items that can be found in Sotheby's Sold Lot Archive. Look! There is nothing wrong with looking! (On that note, I hope all the links work. It's been a while since I started this post...) Over the next couple of weeks I will also highlight other archived auctions. I’m very interested in this kind of thing and having worked with many fine editions of Plath’s books in libraries and archives, and seeing a number for sale at book fairs, just knowing these things are out there (or were out there) gives me absolute hope that there is more! It’s also a glimpse into how the other half lives! Not all of the auctions have images, but those that do are amazing, especially those that offer a zoom option. Book collecting is something ...

This is the 500th post on the Sylvia Plath Info blog. It is hard to believe that: 1) I have this much to say, and 2) so many keep visiting and - as a consequence - encouraging. So thank you! I hope going forward that this blog can continue to present relevant, interesting Plath related content. As always I appreicate those who follow and those who contribute via comments and guest posts. This blog loves archives. Over the last three plus years I have tried to highlight many institutions which hold Plath archival materials. I find very few things in life so enjoyable as being in an archive. This post will highlight an online archive. Sotheby's Sold Lot Archive Sylvia Plath books, and even her personal papers, appear from time to time at Auction. Sotheby's, which has held a number of auctions with Plath materials over the years, has online a sold lot archive, and if you click here , you can see their auctions of Plath items. By clicking on any auction with an image you are able...

On Tuesday 22 September, at a one day book conference entitled "Books in Hard Times" held at the Grolier Club in New York, I had the chance to speak briefly with Breon Mitchell, director of the Lilly Library. He mentioned during his talk - on libraries collecting during 'hard times' that they still add to their collections when possible. Acquiring is just more strict. Of their impressive holdings, he singled out their Plath materials as being a collection that is still growing, mentioning their recent acquisition of some Plath juvenalia. I asked him during a break what they acquired, and I am exceedingly happy to report that they are the holders of the Plath manuscripts that were just up at auction from Sotheby's in July . So, although that signed copy of The Colossus is now for sale - and will be presumably for a while - these "juvenalia" are available - right now - for researchers to use. One of the manuscripts Mr. Mitchell particularly mentioned ...

On 17 July, 2009 , I posted the results of some Sylvia Plath materials at Sotheby's in London. In this auction, Plath's The Colossus went on the block; this copy being quite special as it was the copy she signed and inscribed to her English teacher Wilbury Crockett. A Christmas card was included. The selling price was £17,500. Well, the buyer of the was Peter Harrington, of London . I've seen his books at the Boston Antiquarian Book Fair for the last few years - he's got great stuff and he's a high end dealer. Those interested now in owning Wilbury Crockett's former copy of The Colossus will have to shell out £37,500. The other items that sold have not yet surfaced in bookseller inventories so it it possible these went to private owners or other places. Ian MacKay also wrote about this in the September 2007 issue of Fine Books Notes . See "A Colossal Colossus" here . Crockett lived, at the time, at 9 Summit Road in Wellesley, according to Plath'...

My only vice is that I can't get enough Plath. In the 14 July 2009, Sotheby's London auction of English Literature, History, Children's Books & Illustrations, there were several Plath items that both sold and failed to sell. The biggest money maker was a first edition of Sylvia Plath's The Colossus (Heinemann, 1960) for £17,500. The copy was signed and inscribed by Plath - on her birthday - to her high school English teacher, Wilbury Crockett. The lot included a Christmas card from 1960 with a note from Plath to Crockett. Also at this sale were the following Plath items: Two early manuscripts of Plath's , which sold for £5,000. Illustrated typescript poem in the form of a handmade "get well" card , which sold for £4,000. Early typescript poem in the form of song lyrics entitled "Class Song - 1950" , which did not sell. Plath's copy of Edna St. Vincent Millay's The King's Henchman: A Play in Three Acts , which did not sell. The li...

Another Plath manuscript formerly for sale was "SYLVIA PLATH VI POEMS. (A.M.S., autographed manuscript signed)." This notebook, described in detail below, sold several years ago. The bookseller recently advised me that it may have gone to an institution in New York, though he is unsure which one it may be. I've searched the catalogs of Cornell, Columbia, and NYU, as well as WorldCat and found nothing. If anyone has worked with or seen this notebook, the Loch Ness of Plath manuscripts, please let me know! Paragraphs added by me. "Wellesley, MA: circa 1944-45, original notebook, signed, ruled pages wire-stitched in original cloth reinforced red paper covers. The title "Sylvia Plath VI Poems" is written in the author's hand on a white label with double ruled red border, and applied to the upper center of the front cover. "The following description is taken from the letter of authenticity which accompanies the notebook: "Sylvia Plath created t...