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Autograph and typescript drafts, [c. 1940]-[1967], by Vernon Watkins of essays and lecture notes on W. B. Yeats and his work.

Autograph and typescript drafts, [1920s]-1967, of verse translations from German by Vernon Watkins, many apparently unpublished. Proofs and cuttings are included of some poems published in periodicals and anthologies, together with a few notes by Ruth Pryor and original German texts used by Watkins.

Autograph and typescript drafts, [1920s]-1967, by Vernon Watkins of verse translations from French, many apparently unpublished. Cuttings are included of some poems published in periodicals and anthologies.

Autograph and typescript drafts of translations and plays, [1940s]-[1967], by Vernon Watkins, including 'The Salzburg Great World Theatre', [1963], a typescript draft of a translation from the German of Hofmannsthal's play, 'Das Salzburger grosse Welttheater' (ff. 13-63).
It was published, with some revisions, as 'The Salzburg Great Theatre of the World' in Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Selected Plays and Libretti, ed. by Michael Hamburger (New York, 1963), pp. 79-172. Also included are translations from the German, most apparently unpublished, of poems by Rilke, [1948] (f. 2), Theodor Storm, 1962, 1966 (ff. 3-4), Friederich Hölderlin, [1960x1967] (ff. 5-9), and Eduard Mörike, [1960x1967] (f. 12), and a translation from the French of the first seven verses of François Villon's 'Le Petit Testament', [1960x1967] (ff. 10-11); drafts of parts of 'The Island' (ff. 64-75) and 'The Eclipse' (ff. 76-78), two proposed plays by Watkins, [1940x1967]; a verse 'Epilogue for a play', [1940x1967] (ff. 79-80); and 'A Book from Venice', 1948, a poem by Watkins (published in Botteghe Oscure, 2 (1948), 270-1) (f. 2 verso). The translation of Storm's 'Cats' (f. 3) was published in TLS, 9 March 1962, p. 162.

Exercise book, 1938, of Vernon Watkins, containing drafts of translations from German of eight poems by Theodor Storm (ff. 2-4), Rilke (ff. 5-8) and Novalis (ff. 10-11).
Four of the poems (ff. 2-3, 5, 8) were published in Vernon Watkins, Selected Verse Translations (London, 1977), pp. 70-1, 73.

Exercise book, [?1941]-1967, of Vernon Watkins, containing bibliographical lists of his published prose (f. 3), of poems published in periodicals and anthologies (ff. 88 verso-96, 97 verso-98 verso) and of translations (ff. 96 verso-97).
The volume also contains transcripts, entitled 'Plotinus - on the Essence of the Soul' (ff. 36-40), of parts of the Fourth Ennead of Plotinus (see Plotinus, On the nature of the soul, being the fourth Ennead, trans. from the Greek by S. MacKenna (London, 1924), pp. 4-56 passim); and a transcript of the poem beginning 'The poet, Owen Hanrahan, under a bush of may' (f. 41) from 'Red Hanrahan's Curse' by Yeats (see W. B. Yeats, Stories of Red Hanrahan (Dundrum, Dublin, 1904 [recte 1905], pp. 36-38).

Notebook, [?1948]-1967, of Vernon Watkins, containing bibliographical lists of his poems published in Italy (inside front cover, f. 1) and poems and translations sent for publication in America (ff. 1 verso-11).

Notebook containing autograph drafts, September 1966, of a series of eight lectures entitled 'Modern Poetry Lectures', apparently given by Vernon Watkins at the University College of Swansea.
The lecture notes contain references to various poets, in particular T. S. Eliot (ff. 2-16 passim), W. B. Yeats (ff. 3-31 passim), D. H. Lawrence (ff. 17-24), Wilfred Owen (ff. 24, 26-31) and David Jones (ff. 24-28). Excerpts from the notes were published in Poetry Wales, 12.4 (Spring 1977), 52-55.

Autograph and typescript drafts, [c. 1944]-1967, of light verse, acrostics and poems for children by Vernon Watkins, composed 1925-1967 (ff. 1-85), together with drafts for published articles, lectures and radio talks, 1948-[1964] (f. 86-138).
Most of the verse (ff. 1, 3-28, 35-56, 58-68, 71-82) was published in Vernon Watkins, LMNTRE Poems (Swansea, 1999). The prose includes drafts of an article and radio script variously called 'The Place and the Poem', [?1949] (ff. 86-99), 'The Place and the Poem. Swansea' (ff. 100-101) and 'Swansea Poems', 1948 (ff. 102-107), a version of which was published as 'Swansea', Texas Quarterly, 4.4 (Winter 1961), 59-64; 'Poetry of the Second Phase', 1962 (ff. 111-114), partly published as 'The Second Phase in Poetry', Unicorn, 10 (Spring 1963), 9-10; and radio scripts, 'The Need of the Artist', 1962 (ff. 108-110), published in The Listener, 8 November 1962, pp. 756-757, and 'Problems of Communication', 1963 (ff. 115-122), published as 'The Joy of Creation', Listener, 30 April 1964, pp. 720-721.

Autograph and typescript drafts, [1930s]-1967, of poems by Vernon Watkins, almost all apparently unpublished.
There are copies of both short and long poems, as well as fragments, including multiple drafts of 'The Birth to Destruction', 1937-1947 (ff. 6-17), 'The Moth', 1952-1966 (ff. 55-89, thirty-seven drafts), 'The Will', 1960-1961 (ff. 93-100), 'The Melodramatic', 1965-1967 (ff. 101-112), and 'The Fall of Sodom', [1960x1967] (ff. 285-300), and a number of apparently different poems on the theme of 'Taliesin', 1938 (ff. 18-33). 'The Measure Moves' (ff. 70 verso, 72 verso, 73 verso, 75 verso) and 'The Guest' (f. 223 verso) appeared in Fidelities (London, 1968), pp. 26, 96.

Autograph and typescript drafts, 1930-1964 and undated, of shorter poems by Vernon Watkins, almost all apparently unpublished.
Two poems, 'Note towards a poem' (f. 74) and 'There is a pattern...' (f. 75) appeared in Poetry Wales, 12.4 (Spring 1977), 38, 43.

Exercise book containing drafts of a poem, 1924, composed by Vernon Watkins during his year at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and apparently unpublished (ff. 48-54 verso, 57 recto-verso).
The volume also contains notes, 1924, on the Epistle to the Ephesians (ff. 1-11).

Exercise book containing a draft poem, [1920x1939], by Vernon Watkins entitled 'Taliesin', apparently unpublished (ff. 2-4).

Autograph and typescript drafts, [1944]-[1954], of four poems by Vernon Watkins, published in The Lady with the Unicorn (London, 1948) (ff. 1-3) and The Death Bell (London, 1954) (ff. 4-7).
It includes a manuscript draft, [1944], of 'The Sardine-Fishers' (published as 'Sardine-Fishers at Daybreak') (ff. 2-3).

Typescript draft, [1940s], of Vernon Watkins's poem 'Yeats in Dublin' (ff. 1-7; see also NLW MS 21263E, ff. 46-58); a radio script, 1958, of Watkins's 'The Ballad of the Mari Lwyd', produced by Douglas Cleverdon and annotated by him (ff. 8-30); and personal and family correspondence, [c. 1946]-1988 (ff. 31-70).

Typescript drafts, 1941-1963, of published works by Vernon Watkins, comprising two poems, 'Discoveries' (see The Ballad of the Mari Lwyd (1941)), and 'The Salmon' (see Uncollected Poems (1969)) (ff. 1-2); a prose translation of a play by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, 'The Salzburg Great World Theatre' (see Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Selected Plays and Libretti, ed. by Michael Hamburger (1963)) (ff. 3-49); and a foreword, 1963, to Kenneth Grahame, The Golden Age and Dream Days (1964) (ff. 50-57).

Twelve letters, 1949-1967, from Vernon Watkins to various correspondents, together with eleven letters, 1940-1941, to Watkins from J. R. Ackerley, chiefly concerned with the poet's work.

Some sixty-five letters, 1944-1967, to Vernon Watkins from various correspondents, who include Aneirin Talfan Davies (1) 1963, Winifred Ellerman (Bryher) (1) 1953, Constantine Fitzgibbon (7, copies of extracts) 1964-1965, Mervyn Levy (1) 1957, and Goronwy Rees (2) 1956; together with copies of three letters, 1965, from Vernon Watkins. Also included are typescript drafts, 1961-1967, by Vernon Watkins for various published and unpublished articles, mainly on aspects of literature, together with two calligraphic manuscripts by W. Emlyn Davies relating to Vernon Watkins.

Autograph and typescript drafts, 1948-1967, of published poetry and published and unpublished prose by Vernon Watkins, mostly composed following the death of Dylan Thomas in 1953, including drafts of Vernon Watkins's poem 'Elegy for the Latest Dead', 1954, and two unfinished poems by Dylan Thomas, 'Elegy' and 'In Country Heaven', completed by Vernon Watkins; and radio scripts, lecture notes, draft reviews and articles by him relating to Dylan Thomas and his work.

Printed diary for 1966, containing a few notes of appointments from July onwards.