Houghton Mifflin Company Collection of papers on Bitter Fame, 1954-1991

9 boxes (3.5 linear ft.)

Abstract:

Papers collected by the Houghton Mifflin Company for their 1989 publication of Anne Stevenson's biography Bitter Fame: A Life of Sylvia Plath. Includes correspondence and legal papers concerning the project, as well as research notes, drafts, corrections, press clippings, and photocopies of illustrations.

Terms of Access and Use: Restrictions on use:

The Houghton Mifflin Company Papers on Bitter Fame are the physical property of the Mortimer Rare Book Room, Smith College. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors of the works or their legal representatives. Anne Stevenson retains copyright to all unpublished versions of the biography and, per her letter of 24 October 1997, will not grant permission to any scholar to quote from this material. Photocopies in the papers may not be duplicated and permission to quote from them must be obtained from the owner of the original manuscript as well as the copyright holder.

Mortimer Rare Book Room
Smith College
Northampton, MA

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Houghton Mifflin Company Collection of papers on Bitter Fame contain Houghton Mifflin's working papers for their 1989 publication of Anne Stevenson's biography Bitter Fame: A Life of Sylvia Plath. In addition to correspondence and legal papers concerning the project, there are research notes, drafts, corrections, and press clippings. The papers span the dates 1954-1991, but the bulk of the material covers the years 1986-1990. The papers were presented to the Smith College Library Rare Book Room on October 1, 1992 by the Houghton Mifflin Company, through the kind offices of their consulting editor, Peter Davison.

The papers begin with the correspondence of Peter Davison, which includes notes about telephone conversations as well as letters to and from the principal people involved in the project: Olwyn Hughes, Ted Hughes, and Anne Stevenson, among others. A draft of Anne Stevenson's poem, "Homage to Sylvia Plath" is housed in Box 1, folder 14. Olwyn Hughes's correspondence with Penguin Books is arranged separately in Box 1, folder 15. A few letters between Anne Stevenson (or her husband Peter Lucas) and Olwyn Hughes are housed in Box 1, folder 18. Four other letters by Anne Stevenson ask for information or request permission to quote.

The rest of the collection relates to the writing, editing, and publishing of Bitter Fame: A Life of Sylvia Plath (Boston, 1989). The original proposal for the project is in Box 1, folder 21, along with contracts and other business papers. Press clippings about Sylvia Plath: A Biography (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987) by Linda Wagner-Martin are filed with articles about Plath (Box 2, folder 22). Dido and W. S. Merwin's correspondence with Linda Wagner-Martin is also part of the research section of the collection, along with notes about interviews with Jillian Becker, James Michie, Suzette de Macedo, and Nicola Tyrer. Fourteen photocopies of letters to and from Aurelia Plath and Sylvia Plath complete the research section of the papers.

Five separate drafts of the book are arranged in chronological order. A second copy of draft B (Box 4, folders 42-54) is heavily annotated by Peter Davison, who edited the biography. Later corrections by Davison may be found in Box 8, folders 88-89. Draft D (Box 6, folders 66-78) has been annotated by the copy editor and includes a second copy of Appendix I, with corrections by Lucas Myers (Box 6, folder 73). Draft E (Box 7, folders 79-87) includes Olwyn Hughes's changes, which are marked. Her suggested revisions are filed together in Box 8 (folders 90-99) and are arranged roughly by chapters. Additional suggestions may also be found in her correspondence with Peter Davison and Anne Stevenson. Ted Hughes, Dido Merwin and Anne Stevenson also submitted corrections which are filed separately.

At the end of the Bitter Fame series are photocopies of illustrations used in the book, copy for the jacket cover, and press clippings.

This collection is organized into two series:

I. Correspondence (1963-1991)
II. Bitter Fame (1954-1990)

Information on Use

Terms of Access and Use

Restrictions on use:

Preferred Citation

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

Houghton Mifflin Company Collection of papers on Bitter Fame, Mortimer Rare Book Room, Smith College.

History of the Collection

The papers were presented to the Smith College Library Rare Book Room on October 1, 1992 by the Houghton Mifflin Company, through the kind offices of their consulting editor, Peter Davison.

Additional Information

Contact Information

Mortimer Rare Book Room

William Allan Neilson Library
Smith College
Northampton, MA 01063

Phone: (413) 585-2906
Fax: (413) 585-4486

Email: mrbr@smith.edu
URL: http://www.smith.edu/libraries/libs/rarebook

Language

English.

Series I. Correspondence,	1963-91	.5' (410 items)
Box 1 holds series I, Correspondence which is divided into the correspondence of Peter Davison, Olwyn Hughes, and Anne Stevenson. Each subseries is arranged alphabetically by correspondent and then chronologically.

Series II. Bitter Fame,	1954-90	3' (202 items)
Boxes 2-9 hold series II, Bitter Fame which is arranged in the order of creation, beginning with legal papers and ending with press clippings.

Series I. Correspondence,	1963-91

PETER DAVISON (391 items)

Flanders, Judith
Note: See: Box 1, folder 7
Hughes, Olwyn (172 items)	1986-89	Box 1:1-4

Hughes, Ted (5 items)	1987-89	Box 1:5

Lacey, Tony
Note: See: Box 1, folder 7
Myers, Lucas (2 items)	1989	Box 1:6
Note: See also: Box 6, folder 73
Penguin Books (39 items)	1987-90	Box 1:7

Stevenson, Anne (100 items)	1986-91, n.d.	Box 1:8-14

OLWYN HUGHES (5 items)

Lucas, Peter
Note: See: Box 1, folder 18
Penguin Books (5 items)	1987-88	Box 1:15

Stevenson, Anne
Note: See: Box 1, folder 18
ANNE STEVENSON (14 items)

Barnhouse, Ruth Tiffany	1987 Sep 10	Box 1:16

Harper & Row	1988 Dec 21	Box 1:17

Hughes, Olwyn (10 items)	1987-89	Box 1:18

Lucas, Peter		Box 1:18
Note: See: Box 1, folder 18
Penguin Books	1987 Sep 20	Box 1:19

Thomas, Trevor	1988 Dec 21	Box 1:20

Series II. Bitter Fame,	1954-90

LEGAL PAPERS (42 items)

Includes business papers, contracts, proposals, and publicity	1986-90	Box 2:21

RESEARCH (64 items)

Articles & notes about Plath (35 items)	1983-88	Box 2:22

Database searches (8 items)	1987-88	Box 2:23

Interviews (5 items)	1987	Box 2:24

Merwin correspondence with Linda Wagner-Martin (2 items)	1985-86	Box 2:25

Plath correspondence (14 items)	1954-66	Box 2:26

DRAFTS (6 items)

Draft A: "Version 1"

Chapters I-III	1987	Box 2:27

Chapters IV-VI		Box 2:28

Chapters VII-IX		Box 2:29

Chapters X-XII		Box 2:30

Epilogue		Box 2:31

Draft B: "Master Copy"

Preface	1987-88	Box 3:32

Chapters I-III		Box 3:33

Chapters IV-VI		Box 3:34

Chapters VII-IX		Box 3:35

Chapters X-XII		Box 3:36

Epilogue		Box 3:37

Appendix I		Box 3:38

Appendix II		Box 3:39

Appendix III (2 copies)	1987 Aug 4	Box 3:40

Notes		Box 3:41

Draft B: "Final draft" with Peter Davison's manuscript corrections

Preface	1987-88	Box 4:42

Chapters I-III		Box 4:43

Chapters IV-VI		Box 4:44

Chapters VII-IX		Box 4:45

Chapters X-XII		Box 4:46

Epilogue		Box 4:47

Appendix I		Box 4:48

Appendix II, with "Reactions to my first reading"	1987 Dec	Box 4:49

Appendix II	1988 Feb	Box 4:50

Appendix II	1988 May	Box 4:51

Appendix II: "Revision"	1988 May	Box 4:52

Appendix III: "Revised copy"	1988 Feb	Box 4:53

Notes		Box 4:54

Draft C: "August	1988 Draft"

Preface	1988 Aug	Box 5:55

Chapters I-III		Box 5:56

Chapters IV-VI		Box 5:57

Chapters VII-IX		Box 5:58

Chapters X-XII		Box 5:59

Epilogue		Box 5:60

Appendix I		Box 5:61

Appendix II		Box 5:62

Appendix III		Box 5:63

Bibliography		Box 5:64

Notes on Sources		Box 5:65

Draft D: " Orig. Ms.," with copy editor's marks

Preface	1989	Box 6:66

Chapters I-III		Box 6:67

Chapters IV-VI		Box 6:68

Chapters VII-IX		Box 6:69

Chapters X-XII		Box 6:70

Epilogue		Box 6:71

Appendix I		Box 6:72

Appendix I (photocopy), with corrections by Lucas Myers		Box 6:73

Appendix II		Box 6:74

Appendix III		Box 6:75

Bibliography		Box 6:76

Notes on Sources		Box 6:77

Captions list	1989 Feb 7	Box 6:78

Draft E: "Penultimate Printout w/ OH's Changes Marked"

Chapters I-III	n.d.	Box 7:79

Chapters IV-VI		Box 7:80

Chapters VII-IX		Box 7:81

Chapters X-XII		Box 7:82

Epilogue		Box 7:83

Appendix I		Box 7:84

Appendix II		Box 7:85

Appendix III		Box 7:86

Sources and Notes		Box 7:87

CORRECTIONS by (5 items)

Davison, Peter	1988-90, n.d.	Box 8:88-89
Note: See also: Box 4, Folders 42-54
Hughes, Olwyn

Preface	1987-89	Box 8:90

Chapters I-III		Box 8:91

Chapters IV-VI		Box 8:92

Chapters VII-IX		Box 8:93

Chapters X-XII	1987-89	Box 8:94

Epilogue		Box 8:95

Appendix II		Box 8:96

Appendix III		Box 8:97

Bibliography		Box 8:98

Notes		Box 8:99

Hughes, Ted	1987-88	Box 8:100

Merwin, Dido	1988 Feb	Box 8:101

Stevenson,Anne	1988-89	Box 8:102-103

ILLUSTRATIONS (80 photocopies)	n.d.	Box 9:104

JACKET COPY	1990 Apr 3	Box 9:105

PRESS CLIPPINGS (4 items)	1988-89	Box 9:106

PRESERVATION

Fragile faxes		Box 9:107