Sylvia Plath: Drawings

A unique and invaluable collection of the young Sylvia Plath’s drawings from important and formative years in her life: 1955-1957

Sylvia Plath: Drawings is a portfolio of pen-and-ink illustrations created during the transformative period spent at Cambridge University, when Plath met and secretly married poet Ted Hughes, and traveled with him to Paris and Spain on their honeymoon, years before she wrote her seminal work, The Bell Jar.

Throughout her life, Sylvia Plath cited art as her deepest source of inspiration. This collection sheds light on these key years in her life, capturing her exquisite observations of the world around her. It includes Plath’s drawings from England, France, Spain, and New England, featuring such subjects as Parisian rooftops, trees, and churches, as well as a portrait Ted Hughes.

Sylvia Plath: Drawings includes letters and diary entries that add depth and context to the great poet’s work, as well as an illuminating introduction by her daughter, Frieda Hughes.

This collection of art and writing offers a rare window into the poet’s life:

• A Poet’s Sketchbook: Dozens of detailed pen-and-ink drawings from her travels through England, France, and Spain, capturing everything from Parisian rooftops to a portrait of her new husband, Ted Hughes.
• Rare Personal Letters: Read Plath’s own words in correspondence from Cambridge, describing her passion for drawing and the evolution of her work in her own voice.
• Art and Literature: See how Plath’s visual imagination fueled her literary genius, creating a powerful dialogue between her sketches and her seminal works like The Bell Jar.
• An Intimate Introduction: Gain unique insight from an illuminating introduction by her daughter, Frieda Hughes, who shares the personal history of this treasured collection.