“There are lots of photographs of the time they spent on the road trip in America

She’s wonderfully excited about their union & about the future

The sale at Sotheby’s includes the poet’s wedding ring, drawings and a family photo album<figure><picture itemprop="contentUrl"><source srcset="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/7143db6d813070644756c67a2fdd23ae1762e217/0_61_4376_2625/master/4376.jpg?width=620&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=6f5ad0ce245bcbb6dcddb03603393e29 1240w, https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/7143db6d813070644756c67a2fdd23ae1762e217/0_61_4376_2625/master/4376.jpg?width=605&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=41b3b444c4168be140827723b5220aa1 1210w, https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/7143db6d813070644756c67a2fdd23ae1762e217/0_61_4376_2625/master/4376.jpg?width=445&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=b8417bcd3fcc3b6636480577b45d0b14 890w" sizes="(min-width: 660px) 620px, 100vw" media="(-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-resolution: 120dpi)"><source srcset="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/7143db6d813070644756c67a2fdd23ae1762e217/0_61_4376_2625/master/4376.jpg?width=620&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=e121ccf4cc84d081df1f4eb65d547f8f 620w, https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/7143db6d813070644756c67a2fdd23ae1762e217/0_61_4376_2625/master/4376.jpg?width=605&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=6a8e4ff49789972cade606ca786aa83a 605w, https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/7143db6d813070644756c67a2fdd23ae1762e217/0_61_4376_2625/master/4376.jpg?width=445&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=89aae950213936a20349403dbc2c3f19 445w" sizes="(min-width: 660px) 620px, 100vw"><img alt="A pencil sketch by Sylvia Plath entitled Great Faux Pas, for sale at Sotheby’s." src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/7143db6d813070644756c67a2fdd23ae1762e217/0_61_4376_2625/master/4376.jpg?width=445&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=b8417bcd3fcc3b6636480577b45d0b14" height="407" width="678"></picture><figcaption dir="auto">A pencil sketch by Sylvia Plath entitled Great Faux Pas, for sale at Sotheby’s. Photograph: Sotheby's</figcaption></figure><div><label for="dateToggle">Fri 2 Jul 2021 07.00 EDT</label></div>Last modified on Sat 3 Jul 2021 05.06 EDTA cache of Sylvia Plath’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/sep/19/the-letters-of-sylvia-plath-volume-2-1956-1963-review" data-link-name="in body link" dir="ltr">letters</a> and personal items – including her wedding ring, a captioned photo album and her drawings of Ted Hughes – are to be sold at Sotheby’s in a sale which provides unique insight into the life of one of the most celebrated literary figures in the English language.Sotheby’s is hosting the 55-lot auction, which includes some of the most personal Plath items ever sold, including intimate pieces such as the Plath family Bible and letters between herself and Hughes, with whom she had one of literature’s most famous relationships.<figure><picture itemprop="contentUrl"><source srcset="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/07d432c3fcd280a9c956dc977611b2fd9dca504d/0_0_3685_3598/master/3685.jpg?width=380&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=a0cbcf0490cb44f38d64992212888a18 760w, https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/07d432c3fcd280a9c956dc977611b2fd9dca504d/0_0_3685_3598/master/3685.jpg?width=300&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=9883d9b978d6b4f32805bba4cefc6e72 600w, https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/07d432c3fcd280a9c956dc977611b2fd9dca504d/0_0_3685_3598/master/3685.jpg?width=620&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=7158471654b4dd0bc49b3cb7a825a0b4 1240w, https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/07d432c3fcd280a9c956dc977611b2fd9dca504d/0_0_3685_3598/master/3685.jpg?width=605&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=ca75160c4388ca576eee57eead61ac96 1210w, https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/07d432c3fcd280a9c956dc977611b2fd9dca504d/0_0_3685_3598/master/3685.jpg?width=445&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=17b02e4f3bf26b01c7e5d4ced5239b92 890w" sizes="(min-width: 1300px) 380px, 300px" media="(-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-resolution: 120dpi)"><source srcset="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/07d432c3fcd280a9c956dc977611b2fd9dca504d/0_0_3685_3598/master/3685.jpg?width=380&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=1b99a836bff43bec0cf11fed517ff2c8 380w, https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/07d432c3fcd280a9c956dc977611b2fd9dca504d/0_0_3685_3598/master/3685.jpg?width=300&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=31a51fc85aa8b025d0821e6adf1496f8 300w, https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/07d432c3fcd280a9c956dc977611b2fd9dca504d/0_0_3685_3598/master/3685.jpg?width=620&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=3b7300ba1584441b39873e085fec1bf4 620w, https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/07d432c3fcd280a9c956dc977611b2fd9dca504d/0_0_3685_3598/master/3685.jpg?width=605&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=8d4ec3de1ef33feefda4c37357ea4b2f 605w, https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/07d432c3fcd280a9c956dc977611b2fd9dca504d/0_0_3685_3598/master/3685.jpg?width=445&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=36ac3bc4211db05bf61bb7fe07390281 445w" sizes="(min-width: 1300px) 380px, 300px"><img alt="Sylvia Plath with Frieda Hughes, from a collection of family photographs." src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/07d432c3fcd280a9c956dc977611b2fd9dca504d/0_0_3685_3598/master/3685.jpg?width=300&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=9883d9b978d6b4f32805bba4cefc6e72" height="293" width="300"></picture><figcaption dir="auto">Sylvia Plath with Frieda Hughes, from a collection of family photographs. Photograph: Sotheby's</figcaption></figure>Dr Gabriel Heaton, Sotheby’s English literature and historical manuscripts specialist, said the sale, which opens on 9 July, is without precedent and the items sold by the Plath family show Plath’s creative development, her love for Hughes and her sense of humour.The 32 letters are made up of those written to Hughes in October 1956 and others she sent to her in-laws up until 1961. Heaton says the letters are not only desirable objects but offer an insight into several elements of Plath’s life.Heaton said: “Here you have the beginning of this relationship when she is deeply, deeply in love. She’s wonderfully excited about their union and about the future. But also you get such a strong sense of their literary collaboration and how they’re working together and thinking together.”The letters also include Plath encouraging the then mostly unknown Hughes to enter the prestigious Harper’s poetry contest. When Hughes went on to win the competition in 1957, with a collection that included The Hawk in the Rain, it helped launch his career.Another standout piece is a family photo album, captioned by Plath which records her and Hughes’s road trip across America with images of fishing trips in Yellowstone Lake and excursions with friends, including TS Eliot.<figure><picture itemprop="contentUrl"><source srcset="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0437426e109bea35a5da82534cb9ef12c5fa81e7/0_0_4842_7494/master/4842.jpg?width=380&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=97f309b5a26abdfa0087111c291ec072 760w, https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0437426e109bea35a5da82534cb9ef12c5fa81e7/0_0_4842_7494/master/4842.jpg?width=300&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=b4a39fbe4ab45ced41e46241162ac15f 600w, https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0437426e109bea35a5da82534cb9ef12c5fa81e7/0_0_4842_7494/master/4842.jpg?width=620&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=fea9d2ef8aa7bc0fe8a11bd493dff498 1240w, https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0437426e109bea35a5da82534cb9ef12c5fa81e7/0_0_4842_7494/master/4842.jpg?width=605&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=c960d9c15c6718c92fb042bb2f88381d 1210w, https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0437426e109bea35a5da82534cb9ef12c5fa81e7/0_0_4842_7494/master/4842.jpg?width=445&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=f64c277755926ab62558a38d5e0ee4f2 890w" sizes="(min-width: 1300px) 380px, 300px" media="(-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-resolution: 120dpi)"><source srcset="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0437426e109bea35a5da82534cb9ef12c5fa81e7/0_0_4842_7494/master/4842.jpg?width=380&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=65bd5f9eb4a0582fe9211ed85c1d2364 380w, https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0437426e109bea35a5da82534cb9ef12c5fa81e7/0_0_4842_7494/master/4842.jpg?width=300&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=e1ed3376187f27971ee60327f1652898 300w, https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0437426e109bea35a5da82534cb9ef12c5fa81e7/0_0_4842_7494/master/4842.jpg?width=620&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=169901f4d5bc545f5c6ccea03d6f433b 620w, https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0437426e109bea35a5da82534cb9ef12c5fa81e7/0_0_4842_7494/master/4842.jpg?width=605&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=f6468d59319159078ec9532fdf5a0fdf 605w, https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0437426e109bea35a5da82534cb9ef12c5fa81e7/0_0_4842_7494/master/4842.jpg?width=445&amp;quality=85&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;s=e3f93da15673c16b5c20270fb1d95fa5 445w" sizes="(min-width: 1300px) 380px, 300px"><img alt="Portrait of Ted Hughes by Sylvia Plath." src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0437426e109bea35a5da82534cb9ef12c5fa81e7/0_0_4842_7494/master/4842.jpg?width=300&amp;quality=45&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=max&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=b4a39fbe4ab45ced41e46241162ac15f" height="464" width="300"></picture><figcaption dir="auto">Portrait of Ted Hughes by Sylvia Plath. Photograph: Sotheby's</figcaption></figure>It covers the period from straight after their honeymoon, right through to their final year in Devon, and is described by Heaton as an “intimate, domestic photo album”.“There are lots of photographs of the time they spent on the road trip in America which is very heavily recalled by Ted Hughes in Birthday Letters, for example. In terms of a portrait of their marriage, it’s really a very beautiful thing,” he added.There are also a set of tarot cards, given as a gift to Plath by Hughes, an Egyptian figurine given by Hughes to Plath on their honeymoon and drawings of Hughes by Plath as the pair honeymooned in Benidorm. Other lots include an embossed rolling pin and chopsticks Hughes gifted to Plath.The comical side of Plath’s personality is also on show. There are her letters which reveal her contempt for life at Cambridge, and a cartoon that shows her disdain for domestic life with the poet drawing a scene depicting herself as a maid attacking a dinner guest with an axe.Plath – whose relationship with Hughes broke down before her suicide in 1963 – has been reexamined recently with the academic Heather Clark’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated biography of the poet, Red Comet, attempting to turn the attention away from the “<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/57dfe41b-e7f1-4149-8175-a94047ec4641" data-link-name="in body link" dir="ltr">mythmaking and cultural baggage</a>” and focus on her work and poetry.… we have a small favour to ask. Tens of millions have placed their trust in the Guardian’s high-impact journalism since we started publishing 200 years ago, turning to us in moments of crisis, uncertainty, solidarity and hope. More than 1.5 million readers, from 180 countries, have recently taken the step to support us financially – keeping us open to all, and fiercely independent.With no shareholders or billionaire owner, we can set our own agenda and provide trustworthy journalism that’s free from commercial and political influence, offering a counterweight to the spread of misinformation. When it’s never mattered more, we can investigate and challenge without fear or favour. Unlike many others, Guardian journalism is available for everyone to read, regardless of what they can afford to pay. We do this because we believe in information equality. Greater numbers of people can keep track of global events, understand their impact on people and communities, and become inspired to take meaningful action. We aim to offer readers a comprehensive, international perspective on critical events shaping our world – from the Black Lives Matter movement, to the new American administration, Brexit, and the world's slow emergence from a global pandemic. We are committed to upholding our reputation for urgent, powerful reporting on the climate emergency, and made the decision to reject advertising from fossil fuel companies, divest from the oil and gas industries, and set a course to achieve net zero emissions by 2030.If there were ever a time to join us, it is now. Every contribution, however big or small, powers our journalism and sustains our future. Support the Guardian from as little as $1 – it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The sale at Sotheby’s includes the poet’s wedding ring, drawings and a family photo album

history

History

The sale at Sotheby’s includes the poet’s wedding ring, drawings and a family photo album

Last modified on Sat 3 Jul 2021 05.06 EDT

A cache of Sylvia Plath’s <a data-link-name="in body link" dir="ltr" href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/sep/19/the-letters-of-sylvia-plath-volume-2-1956-1963-review">letters </a>and personal items – including her wedding ring, a captioned photo album and her drawings of Ted Hughes – are to be sold at Sotheby’s in a sale which provides unique insight into the life of one of the most celebrated literary figures in the English language.

Sotheby’s is hosting the 55-lot auction, which includes some of the most personal Plath items ever sold, including intimate pieces such as the Plath family Bible and letters between herself and Hughes, with whom she had one of literature’s most famous relationships.

Dr Gabriel Heaton, Sotheby’s English literature and historical manuscripts specialist, said the sale, which opens on 9 July, is without precedent and the items sold by the Plath family show Plath’s creative development, her love for Hughes and her sense of humour.

The 32 letters are made up of those written to Hughes in October 1956 and others she sent to her in-laws up until 1961. Heaton says the letters are not only desirable objects but offer an insight into several elements of Plath’s life.

Heaton said: “Here you have the beginning of this relationship when she is deeply, deeply in love. She’s wonderfully excited about their union and about the future. But also you get such a strong sense of their literary collaboration and how they’re working together and thinking together.”

The letters also include Plath encouraging the then mostly unknown Hughes to enter the prestigious Harper’s poetry contest. When Hughes went on to win the competition in 1957, with a collection that included The Hawk in the Rain, it helped launch his career.

Another standout piece is a family photo album, captioned by Plath which records her and Hughes’s road trip across America with images of fishing trips in Yellowstone Lake and excursions with friends, including TS Eliot.

It covers the period from straight after their honeymoon, right through to their final year in Devon, and is described by Heaton as an “intimate, domestic photo album”.

“There are lots of photographs of the time they spent on the road trip in America which is very heavily recalled by Ted Hughes in Birthday Letters, for example. In terms of a portrait of their marriage, it’s really a very beautiful thing,” he added.

There are also a set of tarot cards, given as a gift to Plath by Hughes, an Egyptian figurine given by Hughes to Plath on their honeymoon and drawings of Hughes by Plath as the pair honeymooned in Benidorm. Other lots include an embossed rolling pin and chopsticks Hughes gifted to Plath.

The comical side of Plath’s personality is also on show. There are her letters which reveal her contempt for life at Cambridge, and a cartoon that shows her disdain for domestic life with the poet drawing a scene depicting herself as a maid attacking a dinner guest with an axe.

Plath – whose relationship with Hughes broke down before her suicide in 1963 – has been reexamined recently with the academic Heather Clark’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated biography of the poet, Red Comet, attempting to turn the attention away from the “<a data-link-name="in body link" dir="ltr" href="https://www.ft.com/content/57dfe41b-e7f1-4149-8175-a94047ec4641">mythmaking and cultural baggage </a>” and focus on her work and poetry.

… we have a small favour to ask. Tens of millions have placed their trust in the Guardian’s high-impact journalism since we started publishing 200 years ago, turning to us in moments of crisis, uncertainty, solidarity and hope. More than 1.5 million readers, from 180 countries, have recently taken the step to support us financially – keeping us open to all, and fiercely independent.

With no shareholders or billionaire owner, we can set our own agenda and provide trustworthy journalism that’s free from commercial and political influence, offering a counterweight to the spread of misinformation. When it’s never mattered more, we can investigate and challenge without fear or favour.

Unlike many others, Guardian journalism is available for everyone to read, regardless of what they can afford to pay. We do this because we believe in information equality. Greater numbers of people can keep track of global events, understand their impact on people and communities, and become inspired to take meaningful action.

We aim to offer readers a comprehensive, international perspective on critical events shaping our world – from the Black Lives Matter movement, to the new American administration, Brexit, and the world's slow emergence from a global pandemic. We are committed to upholding our reputation for urgent, powerful reporting on the climate emergency, and made the decision to reject advertising from fossil fuel companies, divest from the oil and gas industries, and set a course to achieve net zero emissions by 2030.

If there were ever a time to join us, it is now. Every contribution, however big or small, powers our journalism and sustains our future. Support the Guardian from as little as $1 – it only takes a minute. Thank you.

Sylvia Plath’s letters to Ted Hughes among intimate items to be auctioned

She’s wonderfully excited about their union & about the future

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