Showing 6 results

Thirty-six letters, 1947-1948 and undated, to John Cowper Powys from his sister, Gertrude Powys, containing mostly personal and family news, including the death of Margaret, wife of John Cowper Powys, in February 1947, the marriage of Gertrude's and John Cowper Powys's nephew Peter Powys Grey and Barbara Tyler ('Ty') in 1948, and the death of 'Aunt Emily', possibly a maternal aunt of Gertrude's, also in 1948. Enclosures comprise six letters to Phyllis Playter from Gertrude, two letters to Gertrude from Marjorie C. Ingells (one of which refers to the death of Elizabeth, wife of Gertrude's and John Cowper Powys's brother Littleton, in 1947), one note to John Cowper Powys from his brother William Ernest (Willie) Powys, and one letter to Phyllis Playter from Gertrude. On f. 97 is an ink drawing by Gertrude of her cats.

Sixteen letters (three of which are incomplete), two telegrams and one postcard, 1922, [?1924], 1938, 1940-1942, 1946-1947 and undated, to John Cowper Powys from his brother Littleton Charles Powys, containing mostly personal and family news, including Littleton's reflections following the death of his second wife, Elizabeth (née Myers), in 1947, together with references to the Second World War, its politics and effects, and to wartime activities. Ff. 8 verso, 9 and 33 verso include ink drawings by Littleton.

Thirty-four letters and two postcards, 1962-1963, to Phyllis Playter from John Cowper Powys's sister, Lucy Penny. The letters contain mainly family news, including the deaths of John Cowper Powys, his sister, Katie (Philippa) Powys, and his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Powys (née Myers), second wife of Littleton Charles Powys, together with references to members of the Powys circle of friends and acquaintances.

Photocopies (some text faint) of forty-seven letters (one apparently incomplete) and one postcard, 1945-1947, from John Cowper Powys to the poet Huw Menai (Huw Owen Williams). The letters include references to health matters, works in progress, and family news, including the death of Powys's wife Margaret and of his brother Littleton Charles Powys's wife Elizabeth Myers, both in 1947. Enclosures comprise a photocopy of a letter [?from one of Huw Menai's daughters to her mother] (f. 5), a photocopy of printed poems by Kenneth Hopkins as they appeared in 'The Grasshopper' (f. 26), and a photocopy of a letter to Huw Menai from 'Mam o Nedd', i.e. Winifred Coombe Tennant (ff. 47-50). Some of the letters are illustrated with Powys's ink drawings, which include caricatures of himself and of Huw Menai, the latter often depicted as a sea-serpent.

Photocopies of forty letters, 1947-1948, 1951-1960 and undated, from John Cowper Powys to Jill Olson and one photocopied letter, 1947, to Jill Olson's father, Powys's close friend Bernard O'Neill (f. 1), together with a photocopy of an enclosed printed publication notice for Powys's literary study of Rabelais (1948) (f. 8-verso). The letters to Jill Olson contain references to the deaths in 1947 of Bernard O'Neill and of Powys's sister-in-law Elizabeth Powys (née Myers) and to the onset and progression of the neural disease which afflicted Powys's son Littleton Alfred, leading to his death in 1954, while the letter to Bernard O'Neill mentions the latter's failing health and that Powys had begun the final chapters of "my Romance of the Dark Ages" (i.e. his novel Porius, published in 1951).

Photocopies of one hundred and thirteen letters and three postcards, 1945-1949, from John Cowper Powys to his brother Littleton Charles Powys, containing mostly personal news and reflections, together with photocopies of partial/incomplete undated letters from John Cowper Powys to Littleton, which are kept in a separate folder within the box. Some of the letters are illustrated with John Cowper Powys's ink drawings, which include self-caricatures. There are references to "the 499 AD novel" (which would become Porius (1951)) and to the deaths of John Cowper Powys's wife Margaret and Littleton's second wife Elizabeth Myers, both in 1947.