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Letters from John Cowper Powys to his brother, Llewelyn Powys, [1923], his companion, Phyllis Playter, [?1924], 'George', 1958, and a 'Mr London', [?1940s], the latter dictated by Powys to Phyllis Playter; together with miscellaneous literary papers, which comprise drafts of poems, [c. 1900]-1953, including an early version of 'Samphire' (published in Horned Poppies ... (1986)) and of several unpublished anniversary poems addressed to Phyllis Playter; a draft, [?1900]-1902, of an unpublished preface to poems by Alfred de Kantzow; an ink and pencil sketch of the map which forms the end-papers of Powys's novel Ducdame (1925); and drafts of the opening of a philosophical work, 1938, and of a speech in Welsh, [1935x1954], the latter composed by Powys while he was living in Corwen.

Four notebooks and a series of disbound notebooks and loose leaves, [c. 1900]-[c. 1902], containing parts of a projected first novel by John Cowper Powys comprising substantial drafts of a romance set on the Sussex Downs; together with numerous, shorter fragments of narrative, mainly passages of prolix theological and philosophical discussion, and Rabelaisian fantasy, involving characters based on the author's friends. Also included are heavily worked drafts of unpublished poems (NLW MS 23672E, ff. 57-60 and ff. 135-137 verso, 138 verso, 139 verso-140, inverted text; NLW MS 23673E, ff. 146 recto-verso, 147 verso, 154 recto-verso, 155 verso, 156 verso-60 verso, 161 verso-162, inverted text; NLW MS 23676E, ii, ff. 250 verso-251, 253 verso-255, 259 verso, 260 verso, 261-262 verso, 263 verso, 264 verso-265 verso, 266 verso, 267 verso-268 verso, 269 verso, 270 verso, inverted text); and notes on Shakespeare's The Tempest, Macbeth, Richard III and The Taming of the Shrew (NLW MS 23673E, ff. 148-153 verso, inverted text), possibly for use in Powys's lecturing work.

Miscellaneous papers of Berta Ruck, 1902-[early 1970s], including autograph and typescript drafts of verse, [1920s]-[1930s], many in multiple copies (ff. 1-123); lecture notes, [c. 1935]-[c. 1945] (ff. 124-224); a short story, 'April Folly', [c. 1935], apparently related to her novel Half Past Kissing Time (London, 1936) (ff. 225-248); and some thirteen letters to the author in English and German, [1903x1904]-1971 (ff. 264-283).
The correspondents include Clement Scott, [1903x1904] (f. 264), Marda Vanne, 9 October 1936 (f. 280), Harold Nicolson, 14 June 1962 (f. 281, on the death of his wife, Vita Sackville-West), and Quentin Bell, September 1971 (ff. 282-283, concerning his biography of Virginia Woolf); there are also three letters, 1929, from 'Harry', her Austrian lover (ff. 265-272, mostly in German). Also included are two leaves from Ruck's journal, June 1930 (ff. 249-250); reminiscences, [early 1970s], of Lydia Lopokova (ff. 251-259) with a photograph of her, [?1920s] (f. 260); press cuttings of an article by Ruck, September 1936 (f. 261), and of two articles relating to Virginia Woolf, 1972 (ff. 262-263); W. R. Oliver's school report at Shrewsbury School, 1929 (f. 284); programme for 'My Lady Molly' at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, 1902 (ff. 285-286); and page proofs for Chapter 8 of A Smile for the Past (London, 1935) (ff. 287-292).

Notebook, 1905-1907, of T. Gwynn Jones, mostly written in pencil, used by him during his stay in Egypt during the Winter of 1905-6 as a diary and for composing English poetry.
The volume contains diary entries for his voyage to Egypt, 21 October-5 November 1905 (ff. 22 verso, 23-28 rectos only), the beginning of his stay there, in Alexandria, Cairo and Helouan, 6 November-23 December 1905 (ff. 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34-37), and the return voyage, 28 April-13 May 1906 (ff. 21 verso-22). Also included are some eighteen poems in English, dated 4 December 1905-6 April 1906, mostly drafts, some crossed through or heavily revised, the majority being love poems to his wife (ff. 2 verso-5, 6, 7-17, 18-19, 20, 21). Some are published: 'The Ferry' (f. 7 recto-verso) in David Jenkins, Thomas Gwynn Jones: Cofiant (Denbigh, 1973), p. 169, 'I saw thee' (ff. 8 verso-9) in ibid., p. 109, and 'A Memory' (f. 10 verso) in the Western Mail, 30 September 1920, p. 4; while 'The Rising Sun' [published as 'Come my love'] (f. 11) and 'I will come to thee' (f. 13 verso) were set to music by Robert Bryan (both scores published 1921). Three further verses, October 1905 and February 1907, are in Welsh (ff. 23 verso-24, 37 verso). Eight pages are written in shorthand (ff. 17 verso, 24 verso-31 verso, versos only), these remain undeciphered by the cataloguer. Jones's travel book Y Mor Canoldir a'r Aifft (Caernarfon, 1912), which relates incidents recorded in the diary, such as the Coptic wedding (ff. 34-35 verso), is based mostly on his letters to his wife rather than on the present manuscript.

A notebook, originally perhaps used by Augustus John as a sketch-book, but containing poems by Arthur Symons, composed during his period of madness and written down, c. 1909, by his amanuensis, Agnes Tobin.

Autograph and typescript drafts, [c. 1910s]-1961, of autobiographical writings by Augustus John included in the posthumous volume Finishing Touches (London, 1964) (see also NLW MS 21570E), together with rejected portions of the text (ff. 56-9). Some sections (ff. 60-75) had been submitted to The Sunday Times for publication, 1952-1958 (see MS 22775C, ff. 89-98). Also included are draft recollections by Augustus John of Ronald Fairbank (ff. 76-81), and various drafts of prose and light verse.

Notebook, 1914-1916, kept by Nursing Sergeant Davies of 'C' section of the 130th (St John) Field Ambulance unit, attached to the 38th (Welsh) Division of the British Army. It includes a diary, November 1914-June 1916 (ff. 1-12), describing duties in Britain before embarkation for France on 3 December 1915, and subsequent activities on the Western Front prior to the Battle of Mametz Wood.
A draft application for an army commission (ff. 45, 46 verso) suggests that Sergeant Davies was a native of Carmarthenshire and a former miner. The notebook also contains medicinal recipes (ff. 13-14, 44 verso, 45-6), ration tables (ff. 8 verso-9, 14), and poetry in both English and Welsh (ff. 22 verso-23, 31-44, 49-53). An additional folio, tipped into the volume (f. 16a), contains further diary entries, October 1916, and suggests the existence of a second volume, subsequently lost.

An autograph fair copy, [1914], of the poem 'Sweet Night' by W. H. Davies. It was first published in W. H. Davies, The Bird of Paradise (London, 1914), p. 20.
The manuscript contains a different reading of line 3, 'Take thou a lover’s grateful heart' rather than the published 'A lover gives his grateful heart', and two corrections in lines 9 and 10, conforming to the printed version. The poem is written on '29 Clarence Gardens, N.W.' notepaper with the address changed by Davies to '22, Priory Gardens, Highgate'.

A holograph copy of the poem 'Leisure' by W. H. Davies, signed and dated 8 May 1914.
The poem was first published in William H. Davies, Songs of Joy and Others (London, 1911) and thereafter appeared in various collections and anthologies, including William H. Davies, Collected Poems (London, 1916), The Essential W. H. Davies (London, 1951) and The Complete Poems of W. H. Davies (London, 1963). This fair copy was possibly written whilst the poet was in Gloucestershire visiting friends among the Dymock poets (see Selected letters of Robert Frost, ed. by Lawrance Thompson (London, 1965), pp. 122-124).

A volume containing autograph fair copies, [c. 1916], of fifteen poems by W. H. Davies, some of them apparently unpublished, submitted to James Guthrie for publication by the Pear Tree Press as a collection entitled 'Quiet Streams'; annotations have been added by Lord Kenyon.
A letter, 1916, from Davies to Guthrie, originally loose in the volume, has been tipped in on f. 16.

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.

An autograph fair copy, [1918], of the poem 'The Soul's Companions' by W. H. Davies. It was first published in the Nation, 20 April 1918, p. 64, and collected in William H. Davies, Forty New Poems (London, 1918), p. 33.
The poem is written on '14, Great Russell Street, W.C.' notepaper. A pencil note 'Poetry for this week' (partially erased) indicates it was used as the printer’s copy.

Some sixty letters, 1918-1964, to John Cowper Powys and Phyllis Playter from various correspondents, relating mainly to personal matters and to John Cowper Powys's work, with one letter, [n.d.], from John Cowper Powys to Phyllis Playter (ff. 73-76). The correspondents include: J[ohn] D[avys] Beresford (10) 1929-1938; Theodore Dreiser (5) 1923-1939; Emma Goldman (2) 1936-1937; Marianne Moore (6) 1926-1929; Sir Osbert Sitwell (2) 1935; and Stevie Smith (2, and two illustrated poems) 1951-1952.

An autograph fair copy, dated 14 August 1920, of the poem 'Lamorna Cove' by W. H. Davies, used as the printer's copy for the Nation. It was first published in the Nation, 21 August 1920, p. 642, and collected in W. H. Davies, The Hour of Magic (London, 1922), p. 12.

Letters, 1926-1968, to John Cowper Powys and Phyllis Playter from various correspondents, including Gerald Brenan (16, including one poem), 1957-1968; Maurice Browne (20), 1930-1954; James Hanley (15), [c. 1955]-1967; Claude Houghton (5), 1955-1956; Edgar Lee Masters (9), 1928-1945; Henry Miller (7), 1957-1962; and Ralph Shirley (18), 1940-1946; together with a few miscellaneous letters, including an undated draft letter from John Cowper Powys concerning literary censorship in America.

Holograph and typescript copies and cuttings of poetry by Idris Davies, among them being press and proof copies of The Angry Summer (London, 1943) and a press copy of Tonypandy and Other Poems (London, 1945) (vol. I); a typescript entitled 'The Valleys of My Fathers', with a revised copy entitled 'Gwalia My Song' (vol. II); and drafts of some 200 other poems.

Drafts of eight poems by John Cowper Powys written for Phyllis Playter, most of them bearing the dedication 'to the T.T.', together with a pencilled caricature (f. 5) inscribed 'To my Valentine Feb 14 1949'.