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The Bell Jar
by Plath, Sylvia (Writing as Victoria Lucas)
- Used
- first
- Condition
- Very Good+/Very Good+
- Seller
-
Portland, Oregon, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: William Heinemann, 1963. First Edition. Very Good+/Very Good+. First edition, first printing. Bound in publisher's original black cloth-affect boards with spine lettered in gilt. Very Good+ with light lean to binding, spotting to textblock edge. Light tanning to contents and endsheets lightyl foxed. In a Very Good+ unclipped dust jacket with light wear, tanning and foxing, vertical crease to front flap.
Plath's semi-autobiographical novel, published in the UK under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas eight years before its first American appearance. Plath committed suicide less a month after its initial publication, cementing the book's reputation as a tragically unheeded cry for help. It is now perhaps the single most iconic female coming-of-age story.
Synopsis
The Bell Jar is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Sylvia Plath, published in 1963. It tells the story of Esther Greenwood, a talented and ambitious young woman who struggles with mental illness and societal pressures in the 1950s. The Bell Jar is a powerful and poignant portrayal of mental health and the pressures faced by young women. Plath's use of language and imagery captures the complexities of Esther's inner world, making the novel a powerful exploration of the human condition. It’s Plath’s only novel, and the book is often regarded as a roman à clef due to its parallelism with the author’s own experiences and her struggle with mental illness. Plath committed suicide a month after The Bell Jar was first published.
Read More: Identifying first editions of The Bell Jar
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Details
- Bookseller
- Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 140946116
- Title
- The Bell Jar
- Author
- Plath, Sylvia (Writing as Victoria Lucas)
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good+
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good+
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- Publisher
- William Heinemann
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1963
- Bookseller catalogs
- Literature;
Terms of Sale
Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
Biblio member since 2010
Portland, Oregon
About Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
Burnside Rare Books specializes in literary first editions and works of cultural and historic significance. We are located in Portland, Oregon and welcome visitors by appointment.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Foxed
- Foxing is the age related browning, or brown-yellowish spots, that can occur to book paper over time. When this aging process...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Good+
- A term used to denote a condition a slight grade better than Good.
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
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