I recently had the honour to do business with the lovely, lovely Roy Watkins of The Embers Handpress. I purchased an unbound copy of Plath's Senior Thesis, The Magic Mirror: A Study of the Double in Two of Dostoevsky's Novels, printed in 1989, which he then kindly and most beautifully bound for me.
Embers Handpress is a small private press in Wales, UK who, between 1974 and 1990, produced limited editions of modern and classic literature. Recently, after a break of fifteen years, they decided to start printing and binding once again and I am most glad they did. They currently have a brilliant online catalogue of Ted Hughes rarities and paraphernalia, which is incredibly tempting.
Do take a look at the site!
http://www.embershandpress.co.uk/
Plath's Three Women, published by Turret Press in 1968, is a beautiful piece. It was limited to 180 copies and contains an introduction by Douglas Cleverdon and Plath's verse play. The images within the book and on the cover are stunning, either black or gold. Their simplicity and elegance make this a most lovely package.
I would love to hear it on the radio as it was meant to be and often wonder, despite its length, whether I should tackle it as a poem with my students as the three voices work so effectively. However, it is often, and was, performed as a stage play mid this month, for more information, though the performance has past, please follow the link to relevant page on the wonderful sylviaplathinfo page.
http://sylviaplathinfo.blogspot.com/2011/07/sylvia-plaths-three-women-live-in.html
