Sylvia Plath--Eric Stahlberg

Sylvia Plath--Eric Stahlberg

Three vintage photographic studio portraits of Plath, 1955:

i) Facing left, head and shoulders, in a crewneck sweater, 120 x 97mm, signed and dated by the photographer on the image in black ink, creases, stain to lower left corner

ii) Another copy, cut down, 83 x 68mm, browned at left edge

iii) Profile, wearing a pearl necklace in a dress with puff shoulders, 122 x 96mm, signed and dated by the photographer on the image in black ink, photographer's stamp on the reverse, inscribed in pencil ("Sylvia Plath | 26 Elmwood Road | Wellesley Mass") and "T1 col.",

Housed in a red patterned card folder stamped "Eric Stahlberg | Camera Portraits | Northampton, Mass."

These photographs by a studio photographer in Northampton were taken during Plath's final months as a student at Smith College. She had returned to college in February 1954, after six months in psychiatric care following her breakdown and attempted suicide in August 1953. She nevertheless graduated summa cum laude in June 1955 and received numerous accolades including the Fulbright scholarship that took her to England. Her poetry and stories had already been published widely, and she was a popular and social figure around campus.