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Archival description
Miscellaneous letters and papers
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Acknowledgement letter from Dylan Thomas,

A letter, 30 December 1952, from Dylan Thomas, Laugharne, to A[lfred] Morgan of Barry, Glamorgan, acknowledging his letter of condolence on the death of Thomas's father [on 16 December 1952]. The poet's statement that his father 'died very peacefully', contrasts with the sentiments expressed in his villanelle 'Do not go gentle into that good night'. The letter is apparently unpublished.

Thomas, Dylan, 1914-1953

Anna Seward: Sonnet

Autograph manuscript, dated 11 September 1799 (watermark 1794), of Anna Seward's 'Sonnet for the drawer in the thatched shed by the brook at Plas Newydd'. It was published, with a very few minor alterations, in The Poetical Works of Anna Seward, ed. by Walter Scott, 3 vols (Edinburgh, 1810), III, 314.
Seward stayed with Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Sarah Ponsonby, The Ladies of Llangollen, at their Plas Newydd home for four days in September 1799 (see Letters of Anna Seward: Written between the years 1784 and 1807, ed. by A. Constable, 6 vols (Edinburgh, 1811), V, 248-53).

Seward, Anna, 1742-1809

Claudia Williams letter,

A typescript letter, with manuscript additions, 23 January 1985, from the artist Claudia Williams, Kanapitsa, Skiathos, giving news of her and her husband Gwilym Prichard's stay there during the winter of 1984-5. The letter was sent to Mrs Edna Quinn but is addressed collectively to her and to Williams' other friends in an art group in Wales.
The letter contains a cartoon in ink by Williams (f. 7 verso).

Williams, Claudia, 1933-

Cŵyn yr Indiad,

Cyfres o bum englyn penfyr yn dwyn y teitl 'Cŵyn yr Indiad', yn llaw R. Bryn Williams, [?1980], sydd yn ddetholiad o benillion o'i awdl 'Patagonia', a enillodd iddo Gadair Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Abertawe 1964 (gw. R. Bryn Williams, Patagonia (Aberystwyth, 1965), tt. 32-33, ac R. Bryn Williams, O'r Tir Pell: Cyfrol o Gerddi (Lerpwl, 1972), tt. 86-87). = A series of five englynion penfyr titled 'Cŵyn yr Indiad', in the hand of R. Bryn Williams, [?1980], being a selection of verses from his awdl 'Patagonia', which won him the chair at the 1964 National Eisteddfod in Swansea (see R. Bryn Williams, Patagonia (Aberystwyth, 1965), pp. 32-33, and R. Bryn Williams, O'r Tir Pell: Cyfrol o Gerddi (Liverpool, 1972), pp. 86-87).

Williams, R. Bryn.

Dannie Abse: Down the M4

Autograph draft, [1972], of Dannie Abse's poem 'Down the M4', containing autograph revisions, deletions and variant readings (f. 74).
Also included is a typescript fair copy of his poem 'Talking to Blake', with a manuscript note to Roy [Davids], dated 28 May 1993 (f. 75). 'Down the M4' was collected (as the first in a sequence of four poems entitled 'Car journeys') in Dannie Abse, Funland and Other Poems (London, 1973), p. 27; 'Talking to Blake' was first collected in Dannie Abse, On the Evening Road (London, 1994), p. 3.

Abse, Dannie

David Cox letter,

A letter, 19 December 1840, from the artist D[avid] Cox, Harborne, Bir[mingha]m, to a fellow artist, Henry [?Gastineau], in North Wales, expressing concern for his friend sketching in the cold weather.
Cox refers to the proposed railway through Conway and to acquaintances in Betws-y-Coed.

Cox, David, 1783-1859.

David Lloyd George letter,

An autograph letter, 14 June 1898, from D[avid] Lloyd George, House of Commons, to Sidney Robinson, declining an invitation to a meeting the following Friday [17 June] on account of a debate on education funding in Parliament that day.
Robinson was later MP for Breconshire (1906-1918) and Brecon and Radnor (1918-1922).

Lloyd George, David, 1863-1945

Dylan Thomas: Into her lying down head

A carbon copy typescript, [?1940], of the third verse of Dylan Thomas's poem 'Into her lying down head', with the final ten lines crossed through and completely re-written (as nine lines) in Thomas's hand, [1943x1946] (f. 17).
The typescript appears to match the text as originally published in Life and Letters To-day, 27 (November 1940), 124-126, and collected in Dylan Thomas, New Poems (Norfolk, Conn., 1943), pp. 2-4; the manuscript changes, with one exception, conform to those made before its publication in Dylan Thomas, Deaths and Entrances (London, 1946), pp. 20-22. A typescript summary of the poem's history, [late 20 cent], reproducing the original version of the third verse, is also included (f. 18).

Thomas, Dylan, 1914-1953

Dylan Thomas letter.

Autograph letter, 19 February 1945, from Dylan Thomas, New Quay, Cardiganshire, to N[ancy] R. Pearn of Pearn, Pollinger and Higham, his literary agents, agreeing to the broadcast of his poem 'In Memory of Ann Jones' [also known as 'After the Funeral'] on 26 February [1945].
The letter is apparently unpublished. The accompanying envelope has the phrase 'Miss Elizabeth Cree / Remember wee / Three' typed on the front (f. 10a).

Thomas, Dylan, 1914-1953

Dylan Thomas letter to Graham Greene

An autograph letter, [early January 1947], from Dylan Thomas, at Holywell Ford, Oxford, to Graham [Greene], concerning the potential publication of Thomas's film script 'The Doctor and the Devils'.
The letter was published in Dylan Thomas, The Collected Letters New Edition, ed. by Paul Ferris (London, 2000), p. 681.

Thomas, Dylan, 1914-1953

Dylan Thomas letter to Keidrych Rhys

A letter, 5 August [1939], from Dylan Thomas, at 'The Literary Village' [i.e. Laugharne], to Keidrych Rhys, editor of the literary periodical Wales. The writer is critical of the latest issue (Wales, 1.8/9 (August 1939)), and in particular of a story by S. G. Leonard, 'A labour of love' (pp. 235-238).
There are also references to Nigel Heseltine, Lynette Roberts and Glyn Jones. The letter is apparently unpublished.

Thomas, Dylan, 1914-1953

Dylan Thomas letter,

An autograph letter, 27 May 1951, from Dylan Thomas, the Boat House, Laugharne, to Ronald [Bottrall], poet and British Council representative in Rome, indicating his willingness to record a piece for the Italian radio station R.A.I. The letter is apparently unpublished.

Thomas, Dylan, 1914-1953

Dylan Thomas letter,

An autograph letter, 29 August 1949, from Dylan Thomas, The Boat House, Laugharne, to Colin Robinson of Isleworth, Middlesex, answering a series of questions mostly concerning the publication of his work (ff. 12-13).
The letter is apparently unpublished. The poet is replying to Robinson's typescript letter, dated 22 August 1949, a carbon copy of which is enclosed (f. 14).

Thomas, Dylan, 1914-1953

Edmund Burke letter,

A letter, [7 June 1780], in the hand of Edmund Burke, [London], to an unknown recipient, commenting on the ongoing Gordon Riots, by which he was directly affected, and the burning of Newgate prison the previous night, and attempting to arrange a meeting with the recipient that evening.
For a partial transcript of the letter see The Correspondence of Edmund Burke, ed. by T. W. Copeland and others, 10 vols (Cambridge; Chicago, 1958-78), iv: July 1778-June 1782, ed. by John A. Woods (1963), p. 242.

Burke, Edmund, 1729-1797.

Edward Thomas: Cock-Crow

Autograph revised manuscript, [23 July 1915], of Edward Thomas's poem 'Cock-Crow'.
The poem is preceded by an autograph note: 'The image used to appear to me every morning in the spring when the cocks crowed, just like a coat of arms'. The draft includes two autograph revisions in ink that are reproduced in the published text: 'They [?cleave]' is changed to 'Cleaving' (l. 4) and 'Of equal glory' is changed to 'Heralds of splendour' (l. 6). Other textual differences remain: 'that grow by night' rather than 'that grows by night' (l. 1); no comma after 'stand' (l. 5); and 'one on either hand' rather than 'one at either hand' (l. 6). 'Cock-Crow' was first published in Six Poems by Edward Eastaway (Flansham, Sussex, 1916), p. [19], and collected in Edward Thomas ("Edward Eastaway"), Poems (London, 1917), p. 61. It is No. 88 in The Collected Poems of Edward Thomas, ed. by R. George Thomas (Oxford, 1978) (see pp. 244-5), the editor however does not record the present manuscript.

Thomas, Edward, 1878-1917

Edward Thomas letter

Autograph letter, 12 May 1914, from Edward Thomas, Steep, Petersfield, [Hampshire], to [Thomas] Seccombe, mainly concerning Thomas's new bicycle.

Thomas, Edward, 1878-1917

Edward Thomas letter

Autograph letter, [15] May 1914, from Edward Thomas, Steep, [Hampshire], to Thomas Seccombe, Camberley, [Surrey], arranging a meeting.
The letter is written on a pre-printed letter card.

Thomas, Edward, 1878-1917

Englynion gan Elfyn,

Copïau, [1920au], mewn llaw anhysbys, o chwe englyn gan Robert Owen Hughes (Elfyn), sydd yn ddetholiad o'r gerdd 'Addef ac Ymbil' a gyhoeddwyd yn Y Traethodydd, 60 (1905), 89-90 (f. 1 recto-verso). = Copies, [1920s], in an unknown hand, of six englynion by Robert Owen Hughes (Elfyn), being a selection from the poem entitled 'Addef ac Ymbil', published in Y Traethodydd, 60 (1905), 89-90 (f. 1 recto-verso).
Cynhwysir hefyd y ddau englyn ar garreg ei fedd yn Llan Ffestiniog, sef un o'i waith ei hun, a'r llall o waith Eifion Wyn (f. 1 verso). = Also included are the two englynion inscribed on Elfyn's tombstone at Llan Ffestiniog, one of his own composition, and the other by Eifion Wyn (f. 1 verso).

Elfyn, 1858-1919

Ernest Nicolini letter,

A letter, in French, from the tenor Ernest Nicolini at Craig-y-nos, Ystradgynlais, 8 February 1889, to [an executive of the Messageries Maritimes shipping company], discussing the forthcoming voyage by himself and his wife, the soprano Adelina Patti, on board the Portugal from Bordeaux to Buenos Aires, and their extravagant cabin requirements (f. 5).
Also included is a half-tone print depicting Nicolini, apparently taken from a copy (not seen) of Charles F. Escher, Our Hearts' Delight (Philadelphia, 1892) (f. 6).

Nicolini, Ernest, 1834-1898

Henry M. Stanley letter,

An autograph letter, 22 August 1872, from journalist and explorer Henry M[orton] Stanley, London, to Charles Ollivant, Sale, Cheshire, refuting the (correct) claim made in the Rhyl Journal that Stanley was not an American but rather a Welshman named John Rowlands (f. 19).
Also included is a newspaper cutting, from the Manchester Examiner and Times, 27 August 1872, printing the contents both of Stanley's letter and a covering letter by Ollivant, dated 24 August 1872 (f. 20). Copies of the letter were sent by Ollivant to several newspapers, including the Examiner and Times and the Manchester Guardian, and it was printed in these and several others over the following days.

Stanley, Henry M. (Henry Morton), 1841-1904

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