The British Library says it has acquired a collection of letters by poet Ted Hughes and his wife, poet and author Sylvia Plath.

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Plath committed suicide in 1963. Hughes died of cancer in 1998.

The BBC said the 41 letters were written to Hughes's sister, Olwyn. Also included in the collection are literary papers, including unpublished poems and a handwritten draft of an untitled play. The papers are being organized and are expected to go on display in early 2011, the British broadcaster said.

The archive cost the library about $46,000.

"This exciting new acquisition provides a real insight into the early careers of both Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath as they sought publication and recognition for their work," Helen Broderick, the British Library's curator of modern literary manuscripts, said. "Hughes's insights into life in America are particularly fascinating and the archive complements the British Library's existing Hughes collections by covering this key period of change and development in his life."