File NLW MS 21963E. - Aneirin Talfan Davies letters,

Identity area

Reference code

NLW MS 21963E.

Title

Aneirin Talfan Davies letters,

Date(s)

  • 1964-1980. (Creation)

Level of description

File

Extent and medium

294 ff. Guarded and filed.

Context area

Name of creator

(1909-1980)

Biographical history

Aneirin Talfan Davies, OBE, MA (1909-80), was a writer and broadcaster. He was born in 1909 in Felindre, Henllan, Carmarthenshire, the son of the Rev. William Talfan Davies (1873-1938); his younger brother was Alun Talfan Davies, QC (1913-2000). He attended Gowerton Grammar School, but left aged 14 to become a pharmacist's apprentice. While working in London he became interested in literature and theology. He ran a pharmacy in Swansea from 1938 until 1941, when it was destroyed during an air raid. He began a new career with the BBC, reading and editing the Welsh-language news on radio. After the War he joined BBC Wales in Cardiff, becoming Head of Programmes,1966-1970, until his retirement. He was active in the Church in Wales as a writer and lay preacher and was involved with a number of cultural and literary bodies within Wales. His literary output included radio scripts, free metre poetry, literary criticism, mainly on English literature and theology, and lyrics and libretti with Arwel Hughes (1909-1988). He edited the magazines Heddiw and Barn, and contributed columns to Barn and the Western Mail. With his brother Alun, he co-founded Llyfrau'r Dryw, Llandybie (now Christopher Davies (Publishers) Ltd.). He wrote and edited many books including Eliot, Pwshcin, Poe (Llandybie, 1942), Yr Alltud (London, 1944), Gwyr Llên (London, 1948), Munudau Gyda'r Beirdd (Llandybie, 1954), Crwydro Sir Gâr (Llandybie, 1955), Dylan: Druid of a Broken Body (Denbigh, 1964), Gyda Gwawr a Bore (Llandybie, 1970) and two anthologies of his poetry, Y Ddau Lais (London, 1937) and Diannerch Erchwyn (Swansea: C. Davies, 1975). He married in 1936 and had two sons, Owen and Geraint. He died in 1980.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Professor Katharine T. Loesch; Chicago; Donation; 1983 and 1992

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Over a hundred letters, 1964-1980, from Aneirin Talfan Davies to Katharine Taylor Loesch, University of Illinois, Chicago, relating mainly to personal matters but also containing references to his work and to Welsh and English literature.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to abide by the conditions noted on the 'Modern papers - data protection' form issued with their readers' tickets.

Conditions governing reproduction

Usual copyright laws apply.

Language of material

Script of material

Language and script notes

English.

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

The contents of NLW MSS 21701-22852 are indexed in greater detail in Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, vol. 8 (Aberystwyth, 1999).

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

For the other half of this correspondence see NLW, Aneirin Talfan Davies Papers.

Related descriptions

Notes area

Note

Title based on contents.

Note

Preferred citation: NLW MS 21963E.

Alternative identifier(s)

Virtua system control number

vtls004262417

GEAC system control number

(WlAbNL)0000262417

Access points

Subject access points

Place access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales

Rules and/or conventions used

This description follows NLW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.; AACR2; and LCSH.

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

Sources

Accession area

Related genres

Related places

Physical storage

  • Text: NLW MS 21963E.