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Powys, Philippa
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Alyse Gregory letters to Phyllis Playter

Over one hundred and twenty letters, 1946-1967, from Alyse Gregory, widow of Llewelyn Powys, to Phyllis Playter, the majority of which belong to the period 1960-1967; together with four letters, 1957-1961, from Alyse Gregory to John Cowper Powys (NLW MS 21937E, ff. 11, 22, 47, 73). The letters contain frequent family references, particularly to Gertrude Powys and Katie Powys, and discussion regarding the preservation of Powys family manuscripts, diaries and correspondence.

Gregory, Alyse, 1884-1967

Envelopes addressed to Phyllis Playter from various correspondents

Envelopes addressed to Phyllis Playter from Alyse Gregory (53, 1952-195[?3], 1956-1958, 1960-1967) (ff. 1-53), Gilbert Turner (42, 1954-1955, 1957-1958, 1960, 1963, 1969, 1976) (ff. 54-95), Littleton Charles Powys (17, 1948-1953) (ff. 96-112), [Francis Llewellyn Powys] (12, 1958-1959, 1963-1964, 1974, 1976 and indiscernible/missing postmarks) (ff. 113-122), Gerald Brenan (11, 1968) (ff. 123-133), Gamel Woolsey (1, indiscernible postmark, envelope torn in half) (f. 134), Luis José Bonito Ribeiro (1, [?1976]) (f. 135), Philippa (Katie) Powys (1, [1961]) (f. 136) and John C. Playter (1,1976) (f. 137). The contents of all the envelopes have been removed.

John Cowper Powys letters to Phyllis Playter, 1926

Some one hundred and five love letters and telegrams, 1926, from John Cowper Powys to his companion, Phyllis Playter. The majority of the letters were written during the course of Powys's lecture tours in the United States, while others describe a visit to England and contain accounts of meetings with members of his family and with the novelist Thomas Hardy (ff. 209 verso, 210, 215 verso-216, 219 verso).
Also included are one letter to Phyllis Playter from John Cowper Powys's sister-in-law, Alyse Gregory (f. 181), and two from his sister, Philippa ('Katie') Powys (ff. 197, 203).

Letters from Gertrude Powys

Twenty-five letters and two telegrams, 1922-1939, to John Cowper Powys from his sister, Gertrude Powys, containing mostly personal and family news, with a reference to the death of John Cowper Powys's dog, known as 'the Very Old', in 1939. The telegrams announce the deaths of Gertrude's and John Cowper Powys's father, Charles Francis Powys, in 1923, and of their brother, Albert Reginald (Bertie), in 1936. Enclosures comprise woodcuts made by Gertrude (ff. 24-6, 35), one letter to Gertrude from Helen [?Bussy], one letter to Phyllis Playter from Gertrude and one letter to Phyllis Playter from Gertrude's and John Cowper Powys's sister, Philippa (Katie) Powys. Ink drawings by Gertrude depict Charles Francis and Bertie Powys (f. 2 verso) and a caricatured head (f. 37 verso).

Letters from Gertrude Powys

Twenty-five letters, 1942-1943, to John Cowper Powys from his sister, Gertrude Powys, containing mostly personal and family news, with references to the Second World War and its effects. Enclosures comprise four letters to Phyllis Playter from Gertrude, and two letters to Gertrude's and John Cowper Powys's sister Philippa (Katie) Powys from Yvonne Mackenzie, containing the latter's response to John Cowper Powys's Owen Glendower (1940).

Letters from Gertrude Powys

Twenty-six letters, 1940-1941, to John Cowper Powys from his sister, Gertrude Powys, containing mostly personal and family news, with references to the death of poet and writer Frances Gregg in April 1941, and to the Second World War and its effects. Enclosures comprise three letters to Phyllis Playter from Gertrude, one letter to Gertrude from Yvonne Mackenzie, and one letter to John Cowper Powys from his and Gertrude's sister, Philippa (Katie) Powys, in which she refers briefly to the death of the writer Virginia Woolf in March 1941.

Letters from Gertrude Powys

Twenty-two letters, 1951-1952, to John Cowper Powys from his sister, Gertrude Powys, containing mostly personal and family news, including Gertrude's response to a piece for radio broadcast by John Cowper Powys relating to their brother Llewelyn Powys ('Lulu'), who died in 1939, and to reading John Cowper Powys's novel Porius (published 1951), and Gertrude's and her sister Philippa (Katie)'s memories and reflections on their mother, Mary Cowper Powys. There is an ink drawing by Gertrude of 'Mr Kent' [?her brother Littleton Charles Powys's landlord] on f. 19. Enclosures comprise three letters to Phyllis Playter from Gertrude, two letters to Gertrude from her sister-in-law Elizabeth (wife of her brother William Ernest ('Willie') Powys), two letters to John Cowper Powys from Katie Powys, and one letter to Phyllis Playter from Katie Powys. Written at the head of the final letter in this collection is a note signed 'J' which reads: 'This is our Gertrude's last letter she must have died soon after writing this.'

Letters from Gertrude Powys

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.

Letters from Lucy Penny

Eighteen letters and seven postcards, 1950-1952, to John Cowper Powys from his sister, Lucy Penny, containing mostly family news, including the death of their sister Gertrude in April 1952 and Lucy's purchase of the cottage at Mappowder (accompanied by a flyer announcing the sale of the cottage by auction). A note from Lucy's and John Cowper Powys's sister Philippa (Katie) Powys is included in one letter and there is also an enclosed letter from Lucy to Phyllis Playter. One of Lucy's letters, dated Christmas Eve 1952, is written from Allington Sanatorium, Bridport. Included as part of this correspondence and filed within an envelope are five undated letters and one undated postcard to John Cowper Powys from Lucy which pre-date the death of Gertrude Powys but which cannot be placed with any certainty within the chronology of the collection.

Letters from Lucy Penny

Twenty-five letters and one postcard, 1961-1962, to Phyllis Playter from John Cowper Powys's sister, Lucy Penny, with notes from Lucy's sister, Philippa (Katie) Powys added to four of the letters. The letters contain mainly family news, with references to members of the Powys circle of friends and acquaintances.

Letters from Lucy Penny

Sixteen letters and ten postcards, 1946-1949, to John Cowper Powys from his sister, Lucy Penny, containing mostly family news, including accounts of time spent in Kenya with her brother and sister-in-law William (Willie) and Elizabeth Powys and daughter and son-in-law Mary and Gerard Casey; together with four enclosed letters, one separate letter and two postcards to John Cowper Powys from his niece Mary Casey and one postcard to John Cowper Powys from both Lucy and their sister Philippa (Katie) Powys.

Letters from Lucy Penny

Twenty-one letters and two postcards, 1923-1945, to John Cowper Powys from his sister, Lucy Penny, mostly containing family news, including the death of Lucy's husband, Hounsell, in February 1945, Lucy's accounts of time spent in Kenya with her brother and sister-lin-law William (Willie) and Elizabeth Powys, and the marriage of Lucy's daughter Mary to Gerard Casey in November 1945. There are also a few references to and observations on wartime activities. A note in Mary Penny (later Casey)'s hand is written across the top of one letter dated 1923. Also included are one enclosed letter to Lucy Penny from her sister Philippa (Katie) Powys and one enclosed letter to Phyllis Playter from Lucy. Included as part of this correspondence and filed within an envelope are three undated letters to John Cowper Powys from Lucy which pre-date the death of Lucy's husband, Hounsell Penny, but which cannot be placed with any certainty within the chronology of the collection.

Letters from Lucy Penny

Thirty-six letters and one postcard, 1960, to Phyllis Playter from John Cowper Powys's sister, Lucy Penny, with notes from Lucy's sister, Philippa (Katie) Powys added to two of the letters. The letters contain mainly family news, with references to members of the Powys circle of friends and acquaintances.

Letters from Lucy Penny

Thirty-four letters and six postcards, 1953-[?1963] and undated, to John Cowper Powys from his sister, Lucy Penny, containing mostly family news, including the death of John Cowper Powys's son Littleton Alfred in 1954 and the final illness and death of Lucy's and John Cowper Powys's brothers Theodore Francis (1953) and Littleton Charles (1955). Two of the letters are written from Allington Sanatorium, Bridport. Enclosures comprise one letter to Lucy from her husband's cousin, Nellie Hounsell, three letters and one note to Phyllis Playter from Lucy, one letter to Lucy from her daughter, Mary Casey, and one letter to Phyllis Playter from Philippa (Katie) Powys. Included as part of this correspondence and filed within an envelope are one undated letter and two undated postcards which pre-date the deaths of Theodore, Littleton Alfred and Littleton Charles but which cannot be placed with any certainty within the chronology of the collection.

Letters from other Powys family members

Letters to Phyllis Playter from Mabel Powys, first wife of Littleton Charles Powys (1), [1940] (with a short note from Littleton Charles Powys); John Cowper Powys's sister, Philippa (Katie) Powys (8), [1945], [1948], 1957, 1960 (one letter, 1960, containing a note from Katie's sister, Lucy Penny; Isobel Powys Marks, daughter of John Cowper Powys's brother, Albert Reginald (Bertie) Powys (13 letters and 2 postcards), 1946, 1949, 1959, 1963, 1964, 1971 and undated; Lucy Penny's daughter, Mary Casey (16 letters and 2 postcards), 1949, 1953, 1958-1963, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1972 (reference to scattering John Cowper Powys's ashes on Chesil Beach and the death of Llewelyn Powys's wife, Alyse Gregory), and Mary's husband, Gerard (1), [?1980] (refers to the death of Mary Casey); John Cowper Powys's niece, Eleanor Powys (1), 1949; John Cowper Powys's son, Littleton Alfred Powys (1), 1949 (enclosing four photographs of Littleton Alfred, one taken with John Cowper Powys, and three of which are inscribed by Littleton Alfred Powys, with a note by Powys biographer Morine Krissdottir on f. 51) and an undated photograph of St Dominic's Church, Dursley, Gloucestershire, inscribed on the dorse by Littleton Alfred; John Cowper Powys's brother, Littleton Charles Powys (1), 1949; Stephen Powys Marks, son of Isobel (1), 1959; John Cowper Powys's sister-in-law, Faith Powys (4), 1962, 1963, 1967; Marian Powys's son, Peter Powys Grey (2), 1963, 1966; Antonia Goldhill, daughter of Isobel (4), 1963 and undated); John Francis Cowper Powys, grandson of Theodore Francis Powys (3 letters and 1 postcard), 1967, 1971, 1972 (references to his marriage and including ink drawings illustrating his new home and possessions, and mention of the death of Violet Powys, John's grandmother); John Cowper Powys's brother, William Ernest (Willie) Powys (1), 1967; and Theodore Francis Powys's daughter-in-law, Sally Powys, wife of Francis Llewellyn Powys (5), 1967, 1978, 1980 and undated.

Letters from various family members

Letters to John Cowper Powys from his mother Mary Cowper Powys (1), 1914, his sister-in-law Violet Powys (wife of Theodore Francis Powys) (1) (partial), [c. 1915], his father the Reverend Charles Francis Powys (2), 1918, his sister-in-law Alyse Gregory (wife of Llewelyn Powys) (7), 1924-1925, 1929, 1939-1940, 1960, his brother Llewelyn Powys (4), 1925, 1927 and undated, his sister-in-law Mabel Powys (first wife of Littleton Charles Powys) (2), [1939] and undated, his sister Katie (Philippa) Powys (1 + 1 postcard), 1941, 1949; his sisters Gertrude Powys, Lucy Penny and 'Marz' [?Marian Powys] (1 telegram), 1942; his brother Littleton Charles Powys (1 telegram), [1942]; his sister Lucy Penny (1, with an enclosed letter from Lucy to Phyllis Playter) 1946; his companion Phyllis Playter (1), undated; his son Littleton Alfred Powys (1 [?Christmas card]), undated; and Ernest Angell (aka Peter Grey), father of Powys's nephew Peter Powys Grey (1), undated; also an envelope (contents removed) from his sister Marian Powys (1954).

Miscellaneous Powys family and other letters

Letters largely to and between various members of the Powys family, as follows: To Lucy Penny from her mother Mary Cowper Powys (5), 1911-1912, 1914; to Marian (May) Powys from her mother Mary Cowper Powys (1), [1914]; to Margaret Powys from her son Littleton Alfred Powys (1), 1926; to Gamel Woolsey from Mary (Molly) MacCarthy (1), undated, which refers to Gamel's then contentious work One Way of Love (1930) (with a note by Powys biographer Morine Krissdottir); to Gertrude Powys from [her brother Theodore Francis Powys], (3), 1941, 1946 and undated (typescript copies); to Gertrude Powys from her sister Lucy Penny (1 postcard), [1944]; to Marian Powys from 'E. R.' (1), 1947; to Peter Powys Grey from his mother Marian Powys (1), 1948; to Bernard O'Neill from Philippa (Katie) Powys (1), 1949 (photocopy); to Francis Llewellyn Powys from his cousin Littleton Alfred Powys (1 postcard), 1951; to Littleton [?Charles] Powys from an unnamed correspondent (the letter lacking a signature and appearing incomplete) (1), 1953; to George Frederick Sims from John Cowper Powys's nephew Francis Llewellyn Powys (1), 1958 (photocopy); to Alyse Gregory, widow of Llewelyn Powys, from Francis Llewellyn Powys (1), 1960; to Jill Olson from Katie Powys (1), 1961 (photocopy) (with note by Morine Krissdottir); to Lucy Penny from her sister Marian Powys (1), [1963]; to Lucy Penny from Powys biographer Marie Canavaggia (including a note to Phyllis Playter) (1), 1964; to Lucy Penny from her niece Isobel Powys Marks (1), 1966; to Lucy Penny from her niece Rose Dyer (1), 1969; to Lucy Penny from her nephew Gilfrid Powys (1), 1969; to Lucy Penny from her great-nephew Michael (2) and her great-niece Lucy (1), 1969; to Francis Llewellyn Powys from C. Benson Roberts (1), 1970; to John Cowper Powys's brother William Ernest (Willie) Powys from Agnes [ ? ] in Poland, enclosing a photograph [?from Adrian Upfield]) (1), 2002; together with undated letters to Alyse Gregory from Lucy Penny (1) and Ty (Barbara) Powys Grey (née Tyler), first wife of Peter Powys Grey (1), an undated letter to Bernard O'Neill from Lucy Penny (photocopy), and an undated postcard from Marian Powys to an unnamed recipient (on the dorse of which is a printed notice of an auction of some of Marian Powys's lacemaking stock upon her retirement). Included separately in an envelope are photographs of Marian Powys and Peter Powys Grey, [?1936], and an obituary of Gertrude Powys, [1952].