The Lilly Library at Indiana University is a well-established place of wonder. Sylvia Plath readers and scholars have made incredible use of the many Plath holdings there. The larger and more well known collections -- Plath mss; Plath mss II; Hughes, Ted mss; and Hughes, Ted mss II -- are really just the beginning as Plath can be found in a number of other collections and newer acquisitions.
Did you know that the Plath mss goes all the up to IX (9) now? Here is a breakdown of Plath mss III through Plath mss IX. Some of the collections do not hold material created by Plath herself, but they relate to her. It should be evident which collections have original Plath material. And, of course, when in doubt, as the amazing Lilly staff.
Plath mss. III, 1941-1951, consists of drawings, paintings, pastel works and college art projects by the poet Sylvia Plath, 1932-1963 (acquired 1988 ).
Plath mss. IV, 1953-1966, consists mostly of letters and manuscripts of Plath and Hughes (acquired 1997). The collection holds four letters from Plath to Myron "Mike" Lotz (9 January, 13 June, 18 August 1953 and 20 May 1960); as well as eleven letters written by Plath and Hughes to their friends Kathy and Marvin Kane and one letter to "Elizabeth" [Sigmund, then Compton] discussing the Kane's visit to them written that same year. The collection includes other items among them including: correspondence between Hughes and Olive Higgins Prouty from 1960-1961 concerning Lupercal, and one letter from Aurelia Schober Plath to Prouty from 1966. The collection includes drafts of Plath's poems "Widow" and "Sow"; a set of instructions to the nanny "Frieda's Schedule"; as well as a photograph of Plath and two candid shots of Hughes.
Plath mss. V, 1944–1945, consists of three items of early Sylvia Plath juvenilia (acquired 2009). I made mention of this collection here.
Plath mss. VI, ca. 1963-1967, consists of early letters and ephemera of poet Sylvia Plath (acquired 2012). Included are original Plath letters to William Clair, poet and critic, former editor of the literary magazine Voyages. Other correspondents include Ted Hughes, Anne Sexton, Elizabeth Drew, Katherine Anne Porter, Alfred Young Fisher, Ann Williams, Peter Davison, Frank Murphy, and Ellen Stoianoff.
Plath mss. VII, ca. 2012, consist of posters, schedules, handouts, programs and other ephemera related to the events surrounding the Sylvia Plath Symposium 2012 - The October Poems: the Archives and the Creative Process Seminar which was held on the IU Campus, October, 2012 (acquired 2012).
Plath mss. VIII, ca. 1954, consists of the black and tan cloth suitcase of Sylvia Plath with the initials "S.P." of the front fore edge (acquired 1954). It is not possible that this suitcase was acquired by the Lilly Library in 1954, however that is likely when Plath herself got it. You can see a picture of the suitcase in this blog post from 31 October 2012.
Plath mss. IX, ca. 1972-1978, consists of correspondence between Aurelia Plath and Olive Clifford Eaton (a neighbor in Winthrop, MA), Mary Alice Ericson (Olive Eaton's daughter), and Margery DeLerno (Olive Eaton's daughter) (acquired 2013).
Sylvia Plath, as a named entry in Lilly's finding aids, appears in many other collections at the Lilly Library aside from the obvious ones in the Plath and Hughes mss series. I have posted previously on the Trevor Thomas mss; the Cleverdon mss; the Lameyer mss; the Sanazaro mss; the Wagner-Martin mss; and also the Oscar Williams mss. Plath-related materials can be found in the Antioch Review mss (see below) and the Kizer mss.
The Antioch Review mss.
Plath appears in the Antioch Review mss, however, no original Plath-originated documents were found when the Lilly Library searched for me. The ever-helpful Dave Frasier at the Lilly kindly supplied a list of the contents of the Plath folder in Box 27 of the Antioch Review mss.:
1. Reprint (2 pages) from THE ANTIOCH REVIEW OF Plath's poem, "Black Rook in Rainy Weather" (pp. 150-151). These are pages pulled out from an undated issue of the Review -- "1951-1960: The Second Decade." At end of Plath poem it notes poem originally appeared in vol. 17, no. 2 - summer 1957.
2. Photocopy of Contents page and pages 434-435 from -- DEAR EDITOR: A HISTORY OF POETRY IN LETTERS THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS, 1912-1962 edited and compiled by Joseph Parisi and Stephen Young, W.W. Norton, 2002.
A yellow post-it note attached reads -- "Hi Michelle-Here's the Plath mention of ANTIOCH for your files. Judith." (2 pages)
3. A 2 page handwritten letter from Trevor Thomas to REVIEW editor Robert S. Fogarty dated 7/10/89 discussing Plath's work and submitting his copyrighted manuscript, SYLVIA PLATH: LAST ENCOUNTERS, for consideration to the journal.
1 page typescript letter dated Dec. 8, 1989 from Fogarty to Thomas thanking him for the submission, but stating "it is not for us."
A copy (photocopy with paper covers in ring binder" of Thomas's SYLVIA PLATH: LAST ENCOUNTERS inscribed "To Robert S. Fogarty with compliments and good wishes - Trevor Thomas 7/10/89." Title page states "Published privately in Bedford, England, 1989." (ca. 40 pages).
-----
What is so wonderful about places like the Lilly Library, the Mortimer Rare Book Room, and other "houses of Plath" is that they are still actively acquiring collections, still processing collections, and still improving access to existing collections, which means that with every passing week, there is the prospect of new archival material being "discovered" and made available. If you are interested in Plath archival materials, it is worth your while to remember to periodically check for updates on each repository's website.
You can see more libraries that hold Plath materials on the Archival Materials page of my website for Sylvia Plath, A celebration, this is.
All links accessed 18 October 2013.