Ariel was published posthumously in 1965, collecting Sylvia Plath’s later poems, many written in the final years of her life. Arranged by Ted Hughes, the volume brings together works from ‘Lady Lazarus’ to ‘Daddy’, offering a portrait of Plath at the height of her craft.

This 1988 Penguin reprint preserves the design of the original sixties paperback edition, with a vase of wilting tulips on the cover. A vintage school stamp on the title page and along the fore-edge adds to the overall bluestocking effect, while many poems are annotated in pencil with dates, perhaps noting when they were written. These marks of previous ownership give the book a lived-in history, making it a love object as much as a collection of Plath’s poetry.