Sylvia Plath, aged 29, on the birth of her son, from "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath" (dated January 17, 1962); ["Frieda" - her daughter; "Ted" Hughes - her husband. The last entries of this edition of her published journals were dated 4 July 1962, in which she writes about her elderly neighbours. On the same month, Sylvia discovers Ted's affair with Assia Wevill. Beginning this discovery until the days before her death, her final journals "disappeared" and were "destroyed" by Ted Hughes.]

[Karen V. Kukil, editor, excerpts from the Preface of this publication: "Sylvia Plath speaks for herself in this unabridged edition of her journals. She began keeping diaries and journals at the age of 11 and continued this practice until her death at the age of 30. It is her adult journals from 1950 to 1962 that comprise this edition. The text is an exact transcription of 23 original manuscripts in the Sylvia Plath Collection at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. This collection of handwritten volumes and typed sheets documents Plath's student years at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge, her marriage to Ted Hughes, and 2 years of teaching and writing in New England. A few journal fragments from 1960 to 1962 complete the edition.

Since a few journals and notebooks were kept simultaneously, there is some overlap.

The 2 bound journals that Plath wrote during the last 3 years of her life are not included in this publication. One of the journals 'disappeared', according to Ted Hughes in his foreword to Frances McCullough's edition of The Journals of Sylvia Plath (New York: Dial Press, 1982); it is still missing. The second 'maroon-backed ledger', which contained entries to within 3 days of Plath's suicide, was destroyed by Hughes.

Every effort has been made in this edition to give the reader direct access to Sylvia Plath's actual words without interruption or interpretation."]

Sylvia Plath, aged 29, on the birth of her son, from "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath" (dated January 17, 1962); ["Court Green" - their house in Devon; "Ted" Hughes - her husband]

Sylvia Plath, aged 29, from "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath" (dated January 17, 1962); ["Frieda" - her daughter]

Sylvia Plath, aged 27, from "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath" (dated November 15, 1959)

Sylvia Plath, aged 27, from "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath" (dated November 12, 1959)

Sylvia Plath, aged 27, from "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath" (dated November 12, 1959)

Sylvia Plath, aged 27, from "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath" (dated November 12, 1959)

Sylvia Plath, aged 27, on being pregnant with her first child, from "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath" (dated November 11, 1959)

Sylvia Plath, aged 27, from "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath" (dated November 11, 1959)

Sylvia Plath, aged 27, from "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath" (dated November 7, 1959)

Sylvia Plath, aged 27, from "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath" (dated November 7, 1959)

Sylvia Plath, aged 27, 3 years into her marriage, from "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath" (dated November 7, 1959); ["his" - referring to Ted Hughes, her husband]

Sylvia Plath, aged 27, from "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath" (dated November 7, 1959)

Sylvia Plath, aged 27, from "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath" (dated November 7, 1959)

Sylvia Plath, aged 27, from "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath" (dated November 4, 1959)

Sylvia Plath, aged 27, from "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath" (dated November 4, 1959)