Bitter Fame

manoscmr3 Houghton Mifflin Company Collection of papers on Bitter Fame, 1954-1991 Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Karen V. Kukil. Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Mortimer Rare Book Room, William Allan Neilson Library, Smith College

Northampton, MA

2002

Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Eric S. Cartier. 2002-10-21 Finding aid written in English. 2005-09-23 manoscmr3 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02-5c.xsl (sy2003-10-15). Smith CollegeWilliam Allan Neilson LibraryMortimer Rare Book Room Houghton Mifflin Company Collection of papers on Bitter Fame, 1954-1991 Finding Aid Compiled by Karen V. Kukil September 1992 Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Collection Overview Houghton Mifflin Company (collector) Houghton Mifflin Company Collection of papers on Bitter Fame1954-1991 9 boxes (3.5 linear ft.) Mortimer Rare Book Room

Smith College Northampton, MA

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. English. 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.

Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into two series:

I. Correspondence (1963-1991) II. Bitter Fame (1954-1990) Information on Use Terms of Access and 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.

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.

Search Terms Davison, Peter Hughes, Olwyn Hughes, Ted, 1930-1998 Stevenson, Anne Plath, Sylvia--Biography Poets, American--20th century--Biography 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

See: Box 1, folder 7

1:1-4 Hughes, Olwyn (172 items) 1986-89 1:5 Hughes, Ted (5 items) 1987-89 Lacey, Tony

See: Box 1, folder 7

1:6 Myers, Lucas (2 items) 1989

See also: Box 6, folder 73

1:7 Penguin Books (39 items) 1987-90 1:8-14 Stevenson, Anne (100 items) 1986-91, n.d. OLWYN HUGHES (5 items) Lucas, Peter

See: Box 1, folder 18

1:15 Penguin Books (5 items) 1987-88 Stevenson, Anne

See: Box 1, folder 18

ANNE STEVENSON (14 items) 1:16 Barnhouse, Ruth Tiffany 1987 Sep 10 1:17 Harper & Row 1988 Dec 21 1:18 Hughes, Olwyn (10 items) 1987-89 1:18 Lucas, Peter

See: Box 1, folder 18

1:19 Penguin Books 1987 Sep 20 1:20 Thomas, Trevor 1988 Dec 21 Series II. Bitter Fame, 1954-90 LEGAL PAPERS (42 items) 2:21 Includes business papers, contracts, proposals, and publicity 1986-90 RESEARCH (64 items) 2:22 Articles & notes about Plath (35 items) 1983-88 2:23 Database searches (8 items) 1987-88 2:24 Interviews (5 items) 1987 2:25 Merwin correspondence with Linda Wagner-Martin (2 items) 1985-86 2:26 Plath correspondence (14 items) 1954-66 DRAFTS (6 items) Draft A: "Version 1" 2:27 Chapters I-III 1987 2:28 Chapters IV-VI 2:29 Chapters VII-IX 2:30 Chapters X-XII 2:31 Epilogue Draft B: "Master Copy" 3:32 Preface 1987-88 3:33 Chapters I-III 3:34 Chapters IV-VI 3:35 Chapters VII-IX 3:36 Chapters X-XII 3:37 Epilogue 3:38 Appendix I 3:39 Appendix II 3:40 Appendix III (2 copies) 1987 Aug 4 3:41 Notes Draft B: "Final draft" with Peter Davison's manuscript corrections 4:42 Preface 1987-88 4:43 Chapters I-III 4:44 Chapters IV-VI 4:45 Chapters VII-IX 4:46 Chapters X-XII 4:47 Epilogue 4:48 Appendix I 4:49 Appendix II, with "Reactions to my first reading" 1987 Dec 4:50 Appendix II 1988 Feb 4:51 Appendix II 1988 May 4:52 Appendix II: "Revision" 1988 May 4:53 Appendix III: "Revised copy" 1988 Feb 4:54 Notes Draft C: "August 1988 Draft" 5:55 Preface 1988 Aug 5:56 Chapters I-III 5:57 Chapters IV-VI 5:58 Chapters VII-IX 5:59 Chapters X-XII 5:60 Epilogue 5:61 Appendix I 5:62 Appendix II 5:63 Appendix III 5:64 Bibliography 5:65 Notes on Sources Draft D: " Orig. Ms.," with copy editor's marks 6:66 Preface 1989 6:67 Chapters I-III 6:68 Chapters IV-VI 6:69 Chapters VII-IX 6:70 Chapters X-XII 6:71 Epilogue 6:72 Appendix I 6:73 Appendix I (photocopy), with corrections by Lucas Myers 6:74 Appendix II 6:75 Appendix III 6:76 Bibliography 6:77 Notes on Sources 6:78 Captions list 1989 Feb 7 Draft E: "Penultimate Printout w/ OH's Changes Marked" 7:79 Chapters I-III n.d. 7:80 Chapters IV-VI 7:81 Chapters VII-IX 7:82 Chapters X-XII 7:83 Epilogue 7:84 Appendix I 7:85 Appendix II 7:86 Appendix III 7:87 Sources and Notes CORRECTIONS by (5 items) 8:88-89 Davison, Peter 1988-90, n.d.