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Sylvia Plath's Postcards: 29 June 1961, Rouen, France

Sylvia Plath sent three picture postcards to her mother when she and Ted Hughes visited France in June and July 1961. The purpose was a holiday, but also to go to the farmhouse of Dido and W. S. Merwin in Lacan de Loubressac. This post is about the first card; the other two will be highlighted in a bit. These are the last three picture postcards that we know Plath sent. Meaning, she might have sent others, but if she did we did not have access to them for The Letters of Sylvia Plath project.

The first picture postcard that Plath sent to her mother depicted "ROUEN (Seine-Maritime) Le Gros Horloge (1389) L'Arcade (1151)."


Dated Thursday, 29 June 1961, the postmark was from Rouen, Seine Maritime, France, on the same day. The postcard was published by Les Editions d'Art, 15 rue Martel, in the 10th Arrondissement. The stamp was .30 Francs and depicted Jean Nicot designed by J. Combet. The postcard is numbered "1" in pencil in the top right corner above the stamp.

Plath and Hughes were waiting for their cafe au laits having crossed over to France the previous day, the 28th. They had been to a "superb beach" (Berck Plage) where they swam and collected shells for Frieda.

Plath addressed the postcard:

Mrs. A. S. Plath
c/o HUGHES
3 Chalcot Square
Londres N.W.1
Angleterre

The postcard is mis-dated in pencil as '[1961, July 13]" in an unknown hand. However based on internal evidence and careful scrutiny of the admittedly complicated postmark, the letter was undoubtedly written on the 29th of June.

The full text of the postcard appears on page 628-9 of The Letters of Sylvia Plath, Volume II, 1956-1963.

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