One hundred and seven letters, 1937-1940 and 1944-1967, from Vernon Watkins, mainly at Pennard and Swansea, to his friend and occasional translator, Francis Dufau-Labeyrie, containing personal and family news, and discussing his poetry and other literary output, his and Francis's poetry translations and other poets and their work, notably their mutual friend Dylan Thomas and W. B. Yeats (ff. 1-9, 13-40, 43-121, 125-133, 137-148, 151-158, 161-164, 166-196, 199-211).
Also included are typescript transcripts, [?1970s], of eight of the letters (ff. 10-12, 41-42, 122-124, 134-136, 149-150, 159-160, 165, 197-198, inserted after the originals). The letters occasionally contain poetry by Watkins, including parts of 'After Sunset' (f. 15), an attempt at a poem about Francis (f. 32 verso, in French), the first two verses of 'the Wine Ballad' ['Ballad of the Two Tapsters'] (f. 38), a limerick [?by VW] (f. 40), a verse (f. 46), a verse from 'the Broken Net ballad' ['Ballad of Dundrum Bay'] (f. 50 verso), the end of 'Portrait of a Friend' (f. 75 verso) and the sonnet 'The Conception' (f. 147); there are also transcripts of poems by Yeats (ff. 68, 88 verso, 109 verso) and other miscellaneous poems in English (ff. 46, 76 verso, 119 verso, 190) and French (ff. 17, 82 verso, 86, 128). A few rough ink sketches are on ff. 2, 19, 46, 103, 109 verso, 117 verso. The letters contain annotations and markings in the hand of Francis Dufau-Labeyrie, including attempts at dating and ordering. The letters were mostly sent to Francis while he was living in Bristol, 1937-1938, Beckenham, 1938-1939, Paris, 1939-1947, and thereafter Montreal, Quebec, the later correspondence being mostly by air letter. For extracts from sixteen of the letters, 1937-1946, see 'Vernon Watkins: Selected quotations from his letters to Francis Dufau-Labeyrie', Temenos, 8 (1987), 146-155.
