Seventy-two items of Phyllis Plater, nineteen items of which are a collection referred to by her as 'Precious, Precious'. The papers mainly comprise draft prose and poetry by Phyllis Playter, together with three items taken from printed sources. Inserted into both sets of papers are notes on the material by Powys biographer Morine Krissdottir. Also included is a hardcover notebook containing draft prose and personal memoranda by Phyllis Playter.
'Precious, Precious' collection
Drafts of unpublished poems and prose pieces, [1921x1934], by Phyllis Playter, including a story in French entitled 'Voyage à l'infini' (f. 1-14), five chapters of a story entitled 'Mrs Telfair's Companion' (ff. 53-76), and a fragment of a poem called 'Cimmeria' (ff. 77-78), together with what purports to be the first chapter of John Cowper Powys's novel The Inmates (1952) (ff. 86-8), though Playter's text does not tally with the corresponding section of the published work. The items were preserved by Playter in an envelope marked 'Precious, Precious'. Inserted into the papers are original manuscript and photocopied notes on the material by Morine Krissdottir.
Letters from various correspondents
Letters, 1866-[?1890], to the Rev. Charles Francis Powys from various correspondents, as follows: [?G. H[arr]y Pearson], Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (1), 1866 (regarding a teaching post for John Cowper Powys); E. S. King (1), 1868; [?] King (1), 1872 (with two photographs enclosed); George [?Collett] (1), 1873; [the Rev.] R[obert] Grant (1), 1878; Cox, Sons, Buckley & Co. and William Powys, 1884, regarding memorial stones for Charles Francis Powys's parents (with a note by Charles Francis Powys on f. 19); the poet and philosopher William Barnes (1), 1885 (with a note by Powys biographer Morine Krissdottir on f. 28); [?M.] R. Phelips (3 (one a fragment only)), 1885 (regarding the living of Montacute) (with a note on the envelope by Charles Francis Powys); the congregation of St Peter's Church, Dorchester, on the occasion of Charles Francis Powys's removal from there to St Catherine's Church, Montacute (1), 1885, and the Rev. John Stapleton of St John's Church, Weymouth (1), [?1890].
A hardcover notebook containing incomplete manuscript drafts by Phyllis Playter of a prose piece entitled 'Where Other Rivers Flow'. The back of the volume contains diary entries and personal memoranda by Phyllis Playter, in which she mentions John Cowper Powys and the health of her father Franklin Playter; a note (f. 65 verso) by Powys biographer Morine Krissdottir suggests the date 1929 for at least part of this section. A Joplin Printing Company label is pasted on the inside front cover. Inserts comprise a printed representation of the frontispiece of J. L. Campbell's novel The Miracle of Peille (between ff. 41 verso and 42) and a feather (between ff. 56 verso and 57). Ff. 2 verso, 9-53, 54-56 verso, 64-65, and 76 verso are blank.
Letters from Theodore Francis Powys (typed copies)
Typed copies of one hundred and eleven letters and three apparently incomplete letters, 1916-1921, 1923-1926, 1928-1933, 1938-1949, 1951-1952 and undated, to John Cowper Powys from his brother Theodore Francis Powys. These letters appear to be in addition to those contained in AAA1/3/1 and AAA1/3/2. The letters contain mostly personal and family news, with references to the proposed publication of some of Theodore's works. One copied letter to his sister Marian Powys from Theodore, presumably included here in error, is crossed out. The folios contain some manuscript amendments/additions [?by Powys biographer Morine Krissdottir].
Thirty-eight letters and one postcard, 1945-1946 and undated, to John Cowper Powys from his sister, Gertrude Powys, containing mostly personal and family news, with references to Socialism and to the end of Second World War hostilities in the summer of 1945. Enclosures comprise a series of cartoons featured in the Daily Sketch, two letters to Phyllis Playter from Gertrude, two letters to John Cowper Powys from his sister Philippa (Katie) Powys, and one letter to Katie Powys from her niece Isobel Powys Marks. F. 95 contains a note by Powys biographer Morine Krissdottir.
Porius (photocopied typescript)
A photocopy of the typescript of John Cowper Powys's novel Porius (minus a lost first chapter), with a typescript introduction by Powys biographer Morine Krissdottir to the most recent (2007) edition of the novel originally published in 1951 and subsequently revised and republished in 1994 and 2007. This text of the novel includes occasional manuscript emendations by John Cowper Powys and several of the individual chapters include notes by Morine Krissdottir.