Back on 15 April 2014, I did a blog post on "Dating Sylvia Plath's Journals". The point of it was to show how the Letters of Sylvia Plath, in conjunction with additional archival resources--Plath's and otherwise--could be used to date undated entries in Plath's journals. Now that both volumes are published and I had a bit more time on my hands, I revisited Plath's published Journals to see how many more entries could be dated exactly, approximately, or just not at all.There is not much to criticize about the published Journals, but I have always wished there were supplied dates for undated entries. Using a variety of resources, including Plath's letters, wall and pocket calendars, and other archival resources, I have gone through the book and assigned exact and circa dates for the undated entries. I hope that you find this useful. And, please let me know if I am incorrect with any of these, or if you have information which can help more accurately date an entry or date one I did not.
The structure below is the journal entry number, the page number from the 2000 Faber/Anchor edition on which the entry begins, and then the supplied dates. Journal entries where no date could be established are not included here; but they will be added in the event information can lead to doing so.
1950-1953 Journal
| Entry Number | Page Number | Date(s) |
| 4 | 8 | ca. 11-15 July 1950 |
| 6 | 9 | 1 August 1950 |
| 10 | 12 | 19 or 26 August 1950 |
| 11 | 13 | ca. 20 August-4 September 1950 |
| 13 | 16 | ca. 26 August |
| 15 | 16 | ca. 27 August 1950 |
| 20 | 19 | ca. 11 September 1950 |
| 28 | 21 | ca. 21 September 1950 |
| 31 | 23 | ca. 4 November 1950 |
| 34 | 27 | ca. 4 October 1950 |
| 35 | 28 | 20 November 1950 |
| 36 | 29 | 26 November 1950 |
| 37 | 31 | ca. 15 December 1950 |
| 38 | 33 | ca. January 1951 |
| 39 | 34 | ca. January 1951 |
| 40 | 34 | ca. 21 January 1951 |
| 44 | 39 | ca. 21-24 January 1950 |
| 45 | 40 | ca. 3 December 1950 |
| 49 | 44 | after 11 January 1951 |
| 51 | 46 | ca. 29 January 1951 |
| 56 | 50 | ca. 10 March 1951 |
| 57 | 51 | ca. 10 March 1951 |
| 58 | 51 | ca. 10 March 1951 |
| 59 | 52 | 23 March 1951 |
| 62 | 54 | 29 March 1951 |
| 63 | 54 | ca. 29-30 March 1951 |
| 63 | 54 | ca. 30-31 March 1951 |
| 64 | 56 | 9 April 1951 |
| 65 | 57 | ca. 18 April 1951 |
| 71 | 59 | ca. 4 May 1951 |
| 82 | 66 | 15 June 1951 |
| 83 | 67 | ca. 8-10 July 1951 |
| 85 | 70 | ca. 12 July 1951 |
| 86 | 70 | ca. 12 July |
| 87 | 71 | ca. 14 July 1951 |
| 90 | 74 | ca. 14 July 1951 |
| 91 | 75 | ca. 17 July 1951 |
| 93 | 77 | ca. 17-18 July 1951 |
| 94 | 77 | 19 July 1951 |
| 95 | 78 | 19 July 1951 |
| 96 | 78 | ca. 19 July 1951 |
| 97 | 80 | ca. 20 July 1951 |
| 98 | 80 | ca. 25 July 1951 |
| 99 | 81 | ca. 30 July 1951 |
| 100 | 82 | ca. 30 July 1951 |
| 101 | 82 | 1 August 1951 |
| 102 | 83 | 1 August 1951 |
| 103 | 83 | ca. 1 August 1951 |
| 104 | 84 | ca. 4-5 August 1951 |
| 106 | 85 | ca. 3 August 1951 |
| 107 | 86 | 19 August 1951 |
| 115 | 89 | ca. 24 August 1951 |
| 117 | 90 | 30 August 1951 |
| 118 | 93 | ca. 31 August 1951 |
In the above section, one of the more fun finds was in entry 107, which reads in part:
In the newspaper, the dead lock over a Korean armistice is still going on; a widow Tabor's letter about saving face and squeezing out more than a stalemate of the Chinese forces is getting a big play; Anglo-Iranian crisis is still rampant; senate voting a cut in foreign aid . . (bad sign?) and on page 14 Mrs. MacGonigle, age 103, tells how to live to a ripe maturity: "Eat lots of fish and keep away from busses and trains."
As Plath was in Swampscott, I figured she was reading The Boston Globe. So I went to their online archive and found the story on Mrs. McGonigle which was published on 19 August 1951. Back when the Journals were being prepared this would have been required using microfilm, but still the information was then available.The article was on page 41, not page 14 as Plath wrote. Some of the other articles mentioned are:
There were a couple of articles on the Korean situation. As Plath was in the C-Section of the paper, a possible article mentioning the armistice is "Reds Threaten Air Attacks If Truce Talks Fail" on C1. This may also be the second article Plath refers to about the stalemate and saving face... I found nothing in the paper by or about a 'widow Tabor'.
"Counter Offer by Iran Keeps Oil Talks Alive" (page C65).
"More Foreign Aid Cuts by Senate Units Seen" (page C1).
Beginning with journal entry number 122, still in the 1950-1953 journal, and continuing through the end of her available journals, Plath more regularly, more religiously, dated her journal entries. So there are fewer in the below table that were undated by Plath.
| Entry Number | Page Number | Date(s) |
| 131 | 122 | 6 August 1952 |
| 132 | 122 | ca. 6 August 1952 |
| 139 | 131 | ca. 18-19 August 1952 |
| 144 | 138 | ca. 25 August 1952 |
| 150 | 143 | after 1 September 1952 |
| 152 | 147 | 20 September 1952 |
| 153 | 148 | 20 September 1952 |
| 170 | 174 | ca. 18 February 1953 |
The following are for the Appendices. I flit between half-wishing and full-on wishing that they would have been inserted into the main body of the text so that there would not be the need to flip back and forth. In fact, the necessity of doing that for the endnotes, alone, in the Journals encouraged me to press for footnotes rather than endnotes in the Letters so that all relevant information would be on the immediate page(s).
Appendix 2
| Entry Number | Page Number | Date(s) |
| Appendix 2 | 538 | ca. 7 January 1953 |
Appendix 5
| Entry Number | Page Number | Date(s) |
| Appendix 5 | 543 | ca. 4 July 1953 |
Appendix 10
| Entry Number | Page Number | Date(s) |
| Drawing: Shoes | 572 | 26 June 1956 |
| Drawing: Kiosk | 573 | ca. 26 June 1956 |
| 14[b] | 574 | 26 June 1956 |
| 17 [b] | 574 | 3 July 1956 |
| 19[b] | 575 | ca. 6 July 1956 |
| 31[a] | 579 | ca. 19-20 September 1956 |
| 31[b] | 580 | 24 September 1956 |
| 32[a] | 581 | 24 September 1956 |
| 32[b] | 581 | 24 September 1956 |
| 40[a] | 586 | ca. 1 September 1957-31 August 1958 |
| 42[b] | 588 | ca. Spring 1959 (before 20 May) |
| 44[a-b]-46[a] | 589 | ca. 30 December 1958 |
| 47[a]-[b] | 594 | ca. 16 January 1959 |
| 52[a]-55[a] | 595 | ca. 27 October 1960 |
Appendix 11
| Entry Number | Page Number | Date(s) |
| 4[a] | 609 | ca. 19-20 June 1957 |
| 5[a]-7[b] | 609 | ca. 20-25 June 1957 |
| 12[a-b] | 612 | ca. July-August 1957 |
| 26[b]-27[a] | 612 | ca. July-August 1957 |
| 41[a] | 615 | ca. August 1957-ca. 19 July 1958 |
| 41[b or c] | 615 | ca. 16-17 January 1959 |
| 97 [a-c] | 616 | ca. June 1957-ca. June 1960 |
Appendix 15
This appendix is largely dated. However the initial entries for many of the dossier-like impressions on Plath's North Tawton acquaintances are not. Plath's 1962 Royal Letts calendar has 'NT Notebook' listed on two days: 12 and 14 February 1962. The entry for 14 February also indicates Plath wrote in her 'DIARY'. O! To have that diary... So it is clear from the Letts and from her journal entries on the Tyrers, Winifred Davies, Mrs. Hamilton, the Webbs, and the Keys that she was getting into the swing of her surveillance at this time. Several North Tawtonians and other Devonians then came onto the scene such as the entries for the Watkins', Nancy Axworthy, Mr Ellis, Charlie Pollard, and the Billyealds are all fully dated. Mr Ellis, from 4 July, is the last dated entry in the 'journal' as clearly the disruption in the marriage several days later likely prevented Plath from maintaining her pace and contacts with her neighbors. A lot of episodes recorded in this Appendix can be dated using a variety of sources. I wish Plath had written up her visits with Elizabeth Sigmund and David Compton.
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