Sylvia Plath Collections: T. Thomas papers, mss

The good people at the Lilly Library quietly acquired some of Trevor Thomas' papers earlier this year. The T. Thomas mss, ca. 1976-1990, "consist of the correspondence, writings, legal depositions, poetry, typescript of his autobiography, and poetry of Trevor Thomas, b. South Wales, 1907. Appointed Keeper of the Department of Ethnology in the City of Liverpool Free Public museum, Thomas became a nationally known specialist in primitive art and for his innovative exhibition displays at the museum. Thomas was living in the apartment below Sylvia Path at the time of her death by suicide.

"The collection includes correspondence between Thomas and Aurelia Plath following her daughter’s suicide; correspondence with Linda Wagner–Martin, a biographer of Plath, including a typescript copy of parts of her book and an inscribed hard copy of the published text, Sylvia Plath: A Biography. It also includes legal documents, news clippings and testimony regarding Ted Hughes suit against Mr. Thomas for aggravated libel for comments made by Thomas in his self-published memoire, Sylvia Plath: Last Encounters."

In all the collection is about 200 items. An interesting association collection. To see the finding aid and to access other holdings at the Lilly, click here. This looks like the papers that bookseller Richard Ford was selling, which I posted on 25 April 2009. (It appears his copy of Last Encounters is still for sale.)

Thanks to Sophie Eleanor Turner for leading me to learn about this acquisition.

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