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THE BELL JAR
by Plath, Sylvia
- Used
- first
- Condition
- Fine in near fine jacket.
- Seller
-
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Faber and Faber, 1966. Fine in near fine jacket.. First edition thus, the first to be published with the author's real name, following its initial UK publication in 1963 under the pseudonym "Victoria Lucas." Plath's self-described 'potboiler' was damned with dismissive praise in its own day as a sort of girl's CATCHER IN THE RYE (though as Heather Clark notes, if Esther Greenwood has a male antecedent, it is not Holden Caulfield but Joyce's Stephen Dedalus). Harrowingly personal and famously autobiographical, infused with a "cold, unfriendly humor" (Hardwick), THE BELL JAR is also overtly political: an "indictment of the fifties in America," an adolescent girls' book "written by a woman who has been to hell and back and wants to revenge herself on her tormentors. It is a girls' book filled with poison, vomit, blood, and volts of electricity" (Malcolm). 8'' x 5.5''. Original black cloth with gilt-lettered spine. In original unclipped (25s) black and white dust jacket. 258 pages. Jacket with some soil to spine, light rubbing to rear panel, touch of toning around spine and edges.
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
- Type Punch Matrix
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 51074
- Title
- THE BELL JAR
- Author
- Plath, Sylvia
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine in near fine jacket.
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Publisher
- Faber and Faber
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1966
- Keywords
- 20th century,1960s,Woman Author
Terms of Sale
Type Punch Matrix
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About the Seller
Type Punch Matrix
Biblio member since 2020
Silver Spring, Maryland
About Type Punch Matrix
Type Punch Matrix is a rare book firm founded by Rebecca Romney and Brian Cassidy. TPM is a member firm of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America and upholds their Code of Ethics.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- 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....
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- 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...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
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