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Sylvia Plath Collections: Eric Walter White papers

The University of Texas at Austin holds the Eric Walter White: An Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Center (Manuscript Collection MS-4489) (PDF Version) in their Harry Ransom Center.

The papers of Eric Walter White, like those of Sylvia Plath's, are divided between archival repositories as a forthcoming post will discuss.

The Plath materials can be found in several boxes and folders:

"Series III. Correspondence, 1923-1985, undated (5 boxes)" has the most important material in it: three letters from Plath to White dated October 23 and October 26, 1962 and November 14, 1962. The letters are very excellent ones and in "These Ghostly Archives 5: Reanimating the Past", Gail Crowther and I discuss the letters in some detail. See pages 51-53 of that paper specifically for these letters.

There are additional Plath-related materials in the White papers, and these are transcriptions and printings of some of Plath's poems: "A Birthday Present" [transcribed and printed poem] -- 17.8, 42.5; "Cut" [transcribed poem] -- 17.5-6; and "Morning Song" [transcribed poem] -- 42.5. But these are not in Plath's hand, so there is no need to request them. The handwriting, I believe, is Eric White's as it looks to be the same as an item that recently sold at auction in "The Roy Davids Collection. Part III. Poetry: Poetical Manuscripts and Portraits of Poets. Second Session (L-Y)" (Auction number 20923) via Bonhams.

You can see more libraries and archives that hold Sylvia Plath archival materials here.

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