Sylvia Plath Books at Forum Auctions

On 24 February 2022, Forum Auctions had two lots of Sylvia Plath books.

Lot 235 was just a single book, the limited edition of Lyonnesse, number 37 of 90 copies in full calf from an edition limited to 400 copies, original calf gilt by Zaehnsdorf, very slight rubbing to spine tips, t.e.g., others uncut, glacine dust-jacket, minor chipping to spine tips and corners, slip-case, folio, Rainbow Press, 1971. It sold for £460 which was more than double the high estimate of £150 - £200.

Lot 236 included several limited edition books and sold for £700, which was more than double the high estimate of £200 - £300. Included in the lot were Lyonnesse, number 272 of 300 copies, original morocco-backed boards, , t.e.g., others uncut, slip-case, Rainbow Press, 1971; Three Women, number 171 of 180 copies, printed in red and black, illustrations by Stanislaus Gliwa, original pictorial cloth, gilt, Turret Books, 1978; Crystal Gazer and other poems, number 137 of 300 copies, light toning to endpapers, original cloth-backed boards, t.e.g., others uncut, slip-case, Rainbow Press, 1971; and 3 others, Plath, v.s. (6). The three others were Child, Fiesta Melons, and Million Dollar Month.

Coming up on 31 March, Forum is offering a re-bound first Victoria Lucas edition of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath in Lot 521. The description reads, "ex-library copy with ink stamps to title verso and foot of p.25, occasional ink marking or underlining, occasional light foxing or small patch of soiling, modern black morocco, gilt, 8vo, 1963." The estimate is £400 - 600.

All links accessed 20 March 2022.

Famous Quotes of Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath inspires us all in various and wonderful ways. She is in many respects a form of comfort to us, which is something that Esther Greenwood expresses in The Bell Jar , about a bath: "There must be quite a few things a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them. Whenever I'm sad I'm going to die, or so nervous I can't sleep, or in love with somebody I won't be seeing for a week, I slump down just so far and then I say: 'I'll go take a hot bath.'" We read and remember Sylvia Plath for many reasons, many of them deeply personal and private. But we commemorate her, too, in very public ways, as Anna of the long-standing Tumblr Loving Sylvia Plath , has been tracking, in the form of tattoos. (Anna's on Instagram with it too, as SylviaPlathInk .) The above bath quote is among Sylvia Plath's most famous. It often appears here and there and it is stripped of its context. But I think most people will know it is from her nove...

Sylvia Plath's Gravestone Vandalized

The following news story appeared online this morning: HEPTONSTALL, ENGLAND (APFS) - The small village of Heptonstall is once again in the news because of the grave site of American poet Sylvia Plath. The headstone controversy rose to a fever pitch in 1989 when Plath's grave was left unmarked for a long period of time after vandals repeatedly chiseled her married surname Hughes off the stone marker. Author Nick Hornby commented, "I like Plath, but the controversy reaching its fever pitch in the 80s had nothing to do with my book title choice." Today, however, it was discovered that the grave was defaced but in quite an unlikely fashion. This time, Plath's headstone has had slashed-off her maiden name "Plath," so the stone now reads "Sylvia Hughes." A statement posted on Twitter from @masculinistsfortedhughes (Masculinists for Ted Hughes) has claimed responsibility saying that, "We did this because as Ted Hughes' first wife, Sylvia de...

Sylvia Plath and McLean Hospital

In August when I was in the final preparations for the tour of Sylvia Plath The Bell Jar sites, I found that I had long been mistaken about a couple of things. This is my coming clean. It was my intention in this blog post to discuss just McLean, but I found myself deeply immersed in other aspects of Plath's recovery. The other thing I was mistaken about will be discussed in a separate blog post. I suppose I need to state from the outset that I am drawing conclusions from Plath's actual experiences from what she wrote in The Bell Jar and vice versa, taking information from the novel that is presently unconfirmed or murky and applying it to Plath's biography. There is enough in The Bell Jar , I think, based on real life to make these decisions. At the same time, I like to think that I know enough to distinguish where things are authentic and where details were clearly made up, slightly fudged, or out of chronological order. McLean Hospital was Plath's third and last...

Search This Blog