THE BELL JAR by PLATH, Sylvia - 1971

New York: Harper & Row, 1971. First edition, later impression. About fine / very good +. Octavo. Deep lavender cloth over boards, pale lavender endpapers. 296 pp. Small spot and the mere hint of sunning to top edge, else clean and about fine; dust jacket lightly rubbed at toe of spine, faded ink price near printed price on front turn-in, else very good or better. 

First American edition, seventh impression. Biographical note by Lois  Ames, with eight previously unpublished drawings by Plath. Sylvia Plath's only published novel was published in 1963 in the UK under the pseudonym "Victoria Lucas," by William Heinemann, and eight years later under her own name in the U.S. It is the penetrating story of Esther Greenwood's breakdown as she descends into insanity. "The work reveals so much about the sources of Sylvia Plath's own tragedy that its publication must be considered a landmark in contemporary literature" -- from the publisher.