February 2018 | Rebecca Rego Barry

Sylvia Plath's Typewriter Headed to Auction

This is not a drill. Repeat this is not a drill. Sylvia Plath's typewriter--the one she used to write The Bell Jar (1963) in spring-summer 1961--is going to auction in London on March 21. It is estimated to reach £40,000-60,000 ($57,000-$85,000).

Plath's Hermes 3000 Typewriter copy.jpgPlath purchased the classic mint green Hermes 3000 in Boston in 1959. After her death in 1963, the typewriter stayed in the family and will now be sold by her daughter, Frieda Hughes, in a sale titled "Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes; The Property of Frieda Hughes." Highlights are listed here.

Incidentally, Larry McMurtry prefers the same Swiss-made model, as he mentioned during his Oscar acceptance speech in 2006.

Image courtesy of Bonhams