Finally after sitting on this information for nearly a year, I can post about the archival Plath material contained within the Oscar Williams mss. at the Lilly Library. The Oscar Williams mss, 1920-1966 contains seven poems by Sylvia Plath; and in addition, holds several photographs in which Plath appears (and Ted Hughes too). Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes visited Oscar Williams in New York in early June 1958. According to Plath's address book held at Smith College, Williams lived at 35 Water Street in NY; which is in Lower Manhattan near South Ferry. The block where Williams lived is no longer extant and has been replaced a modern office building. The poems held are typescript copies that Plath likely gave to Williams at the time of visit to New York City in June 1958. The poems are: "Full Fathom Five," "Sculptor," "Black Rook in Rainy Weather," "On The Difficulty of Conjuring Up a Dryad," "Sow," "Departure of the Ghost,...

Edward Butscher's biography Sylvia Plath: Method & Madness is now available in Kindle book format .  It is also available through Amazon.co.uk . In case you were struck, as I was, at the incessant repetition of the phrase "bitch goddess" in the text and wondered just how many times it was used...the mystery has been solved! It appears 40 times. 30 times as "the bitch goddess"; 3 as "her bitch goddess"; 2 as "imprisoned bitch goddess"; and 1 each as "emerging bitch goddess", "hidden bitch goddess", "raging bitch goddess", "combination bitch goddess", and "appellation bitch goddess." Phew, now I can get some sleep.

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 few Sylvia Plath articles to refer you to today, though I am sure you are all still engrossed with Plath Profiles 4 !!! P. H. Davies has recently reviewed Kathleen Connor's and Sally Bayley’s Eye Rhymes: Sylvia Plath’s Art of the Visual . Jane Dowson has a chapter called "Towards a new confessionalism: Elizabeth Jennings and Sylvia Plath" in the recently published The Cambridge Companion to Twentieth-Century British and Irish Women's Poetry , see chapter 5, pages 62-81. Michael Clune has a chapter called "Freedom from you" in his 2010 book American Literature and the Free Market, 1945-2000 . Thanks to Amanda for bringing this to our attention. The chapter focuses on a few books, one of them being Plath's novel, The Bell Jar . Another article of which I recently learned is Linda Anderson's "Gender, feminism, poetry: Stevie Smith, Sylvia Plath, Jo Shapcott" which appeared in the 2007 The Cambridge Companion to Twentieth-Century E...

Helen Eastman of Live Canon is directing two performances of Sylvia Plath's verse poem "Three Women." Performed by Holly Atkins, Rebecca Blackstone, and Helena Johnson, theater-goers and poetry lovers alike, in London on 8 July and 14 July can enjoy Plath's words live. When I saw/heard Robert Shaw's production of "Three Women" in New York City last fall, "Three Women" was absolutely transformed for me as a poem & as a work of art. Eastman's "Three Women" will be on at the Greenwich and Bloomsbury Theatres. See eflier here for more information.

The rare book and manuscript dealer Glenn Horowitz , in New York City, has just posted on their blog a fascinating Sylvia Plath document. The "Class Song - 1950" which Plath (words) co-composed with Robert Blakesley (music) was to be sung upon the occasion of their graduation from high school. In all probability, this is the same document which failed to sell at at 14 July 2009, Sotheby's auction and I hope that it finds a good home before too long. I say in all probability as the link I included in my review of Sotheby's sold lots rudely is no longer working... For those who are interested in tracing other copies of Plath's works, a copy of "Class Song - 1950" is held by the Lilly Library; see Plath mss. II, Box 7, folder 9. Also, Between the Covers Rare Books in New Jersey has for sale now Plath's own copy of Edna St. Vincent Millay’s The King's Henchman . The copy was also formerly Aurelia Plath's, too, quite the provenance! Th...