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Sale results: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes: The Property of Frieda Hughes

Today, 14 November 2023, was the Bonhams Fine Books and Manuscripts auction of twenty-five lots of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes books from the property, or now former property of Frieda Hughes. In the last few years, the Plath and Hughes rare book market has been simply flooded with stock but this has not, at least in the case of Plath who is more collectible than Hughes, meant that prices in the rare and antiquarian book market has stalled or leveled off. 

As I have done in the past, here are a list of the sales. All prices below show hammer price first and then the final price including the buyer's premium. Please see the Bonhams website for pre-auction valuation estimates.

In addition to the property of Frieda Hughes, there was a scarce uncorrected proof of the Victoria Lucas edition of The Bell Jar in:

Lot 72:  This gorgeous book is estimated to sell for £4,000 - £5,000 (US$4,900 - US$6,200) and ultimately went for £6,144.

Estimated: Untracked
Hammer Price: Untracked
Price with buyer's premium: £6,144


Ted Hughes:

Lot 94: HUGHES (TED) Meet My Folks!, FIRST EDITION, DEDICATION COPY, INSCRIBED, Faber and Faber, 1961.
Estimated: Untracked
Hammer Price: £1,900
Price with buyer's premium: £2,432

Lot 95: HUGHES (TED) The New Poetry. A Selection Selected and Introduced by A. Alvarez, FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED BY TED HUGHES TO HIS PARENTS, 1962; 3 carbons TH poems of 1960s, and annotated copy of Moorehead's Cooper's Creek (6).
Estimated: Untracked
Hammer Price: £2,000
Price with buyer's premium: £2,560

Lot 96: HUGHES (TED) Wodwo, FIRST EDITION AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED "To Walter [Hughes] & Alice with love from Ted, May 67", Faber and Faber, 1967.
Estimated: Untracked
Hammer Price: £400
Price with buyer's premium: £512

Lot 97: HUGHES (TED) Animal Poems, UNIQUE PRESENTATION COPY, ONE OF SIX COPIES INTERLEAVED WITH ALL 14 POEMS WRITTEN OUT BY THE AUTHOR, AND AN ADDITIONAL 18 POEMS ADDED IN MANUSCRIPT, [Richard Gilbertson, [1967].
Estimated: Untracked
Hammer Price: £4,500
Price with buyer's premium: £5,760

Lot 98: HUGHES (TED) The Iron Man, FIRST EDITION, AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION, INSCRIBED, Faber and Faber, 1968.
Estimated: Untracked
Hammer Price: £8,000
Price with buyer's premium: £10,240

Lot 99: HUGHES (TED) Crow. From the Life and Songs of the Crow, FIRST EDITION, AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED TO HIS DAUGHTER, Faber and Faber, 1970.
Estimated: Untracked
Hammer Price: £ 1,200
Price with buyer's premium: £1,536

Lot 100: HUGHES (TED) - EMILY DICKINSON "Poems by Emily Dickinson", MANUSCRIPT TRANSCRIPTION BY HUGHES OF DICKINSON'S POEMS, 1974.
Estimated: Untracked
Hammer Price: £3,500
Price with buyer's premium: £4,480

Lot 101: HUGHES (TED) Moortown Elegies, ONE OF 6 SPECIALLY BOUND AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPIES, Rampant Lion Press, for The Rainbow Press, 1978.
Estimated: Untracked
Hammer Price: £1,500
Price with buyer's premium: £1,920

Lot 102: HUGHES (TED) Birthday Letters, SPECIAL EDITION, SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR AND ONE OF THE DEDICATEES, Faber and Faber, 1998; and a first edition signed by Ted Hughes (2).
Estimated: Untracked
Hammer Price: £2,000
Price with buyer's premium: ££2,560

Lot 103: HUGHES (TED) Birthday Letters, SPECIAL EDITION, SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, Faber and Faber, 1998; and a first edition signed by Ted Hughes (2).
Estimated: Untracked
Hammer Price: £1,900
Price with buyer's premium: £2,432

Lot 104: HUGHES (TED) Howls & Whispers... Etchings by Leonard Baskin, NUMBER 48 OF 110 COPIES, SIGNED BY BOTH AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR, The Gehenna Press, 1998.
Estimated:  Untracked
Hammer Price: £1,200
Price with buyer's premium: £1,536

Lot 105: HUGHES (TED) A collection of 30 works by Hughes, some first editions, and one by Sylvia Plath, ALL PRESENTATION COPIES INSCRIBED BY HUGHES to "Frieda [Hughes] and Laszlo [Lukacs] love Daddy, June 1998" (occasionally "Daddy and Ted" or "Ted"), 8vo and 4to (31).
Estimated: Untracked
Hammer Price: £3,500
Price with buyer's premium: 4,480

Lot 106: The Iron Giant, first U.S. edition, AUTHORS' PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED TO FRIEDA HUGHES, ONE OF THE DEDICATEES, 1968; Iron Woman, INSCRIBED TO DEDICATEE, 1993; and 14 others, Children books, 3 inscribed by Hughes, 2 by Ralph Steadman, and 2 by Leonard Baskin (24).
Estimated: £1,200 - £1,800
Hammer Price: £3,200
Price with buyer's premium: £4,096

Lot 107: HUGHES (TED) Birthday Letters, SPECIAL EDITION, NUMBER III OF 10 COPIES RESERVED FOR THE AUTHOR, SIGNED, 8vo and 4to; and approximately 40 others, of which 8 inscribed by Ted to Frieda (3 his own works, 5 by other authors, 6 signed limited editions), and others by Hughes (c.65).
Estimated: £2,000 - £3,000
Hammer Price: £6,000
Price with buyer's premium: £7,680

Sylvia Plath:

Lot 108: [PLATH (SYLVIA)] A Winter Ship, FIRST EDITION, ONE OF APPROXIMATELY 60 COPIES, Edinburgh, Tragara Press, 1960.
Estimated: £1,000 - £1,500
Hammer Price: £1,200
Price with buyer's premium: £1,536

Lot 109: [PLATH (SYLVIA)] A Winter Ship, FIRST EDITION, ONE OF APPROXIMATELY 60 COPIES, Edinburgh, Tragara Press, 1960.
Estimated: £1,000 - £1,500
Hammer Price: £1,200
Price with buyer's premium: £1,536

Lot 110: PLATH (SYLVIA) The Colossus. Poems, FIRST EDITION, William Heinemann, 1960. Estimated: £1,500 - £2,500
Hammer Price: £3,500
Price with buyer's premium: £4,480

Lot 111: [PLATH (SYLVIA)] The Bell Jar by Victoria Lucas, FIRST EDITION, SIGNED BY TED HUGHES, Heinemann, [1963].
Estimated: £6,000 - £8,000
Hammer Price: £13,000
Price with buyer's premium: £16,640

Lot 112: [PLATH (SYLVIA)] The Bell Jar by Victoria Lucas, FIRST EDITION, second impression, SIGNED BY TED HUGHES, Heinemann, [1963].
Estimated: £2,500 - £3,500
Hammer Price: £3,200
Price with buyer's premium: £4,096

Lot 113: PLATH (SYLVIA) Ariel, FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED BY TED HUGHES TO THEIR DAUGHTER FRIEDA, Faber and Faber, 1965.
Estimated: £2,000 - £3,000
Hammer Price: £6,000
Price with buyer's premium: £7,680

Lot 114: PLATH (SYLVIA) Crystal Gazer and Other Poems, LIMITED EDITION IN FULL VELLUM, The Rainbow Press, [1971].
Estimated: £1,000 - £1,500
Hammer Price: £1,600
Price with buyer's premium: £2,048

Lot 115: PLATH (SYLVIA) A Winter Ship, FIRST EDITION OF THE AUTHOR'S FIRST BOOK, and 31 others by Plath including Colossus, Ariel, etc., ALL SIGNED BY FRIEDA HUGHES, many limited editions, private press (34).
Estimated: £3,000 - £4,000
Hammer Price: £8,500
Price with buyer's premium: £10,880

Lot 116: PLATH (SYLVIA) Pursuit. With an Etching & Drawings by Leonard Baskin, NUMBER 1 OF 100 COPIES; and 3 others.
Estimated: £800 - £1,200
Hammer Price: £1,100
Price with buyer's premium: £1,408

Lot 117: PLATH (SYLVIA) Three Women. A Monologue for Three Voices, 2 copies, second (first published) edition, Limited to 180 copies, 8vo and 4to; and approximately 45 others by or about Plath, including 2 signed by Ralph Steadman, Out of Ash published in Tel-Aviv in 1965, 2 biographies of Plath with a few annotations by Olwyn Hughes, and a collection of approximately 79 American first day covers for Plath stamp (quantity).
Estimated: £1,500 - £2,500
Hammer Price: £3,800
Price with buyer's premium: £4,864

Lot 118: PLATH (SYLVIA) AND TED HUGHES Fourteen Rainbow Press titles, limited editions, 1971-1978 (15).
Estimated: £1,500 - £2,500
Hammer Price: £2,500
Price with buyer's premium: £3,200

All links accessed 17 October and 2 November 2023.

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