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Dinah White (Powys family) manuscripts
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Dinah White (Powys family) manuscripts

  • GB 0210 MSDINWHIT
  • Fonds
  • 1953-1987

Letters, 1953-1956, to Dinah White from John Cowper Powys, his brother Littleton Charles Powys, and others; together with printed items, 1954-1987, relating to Father Littleton Alfred Powys and the Powys family.

White, Dinah

John Cowper Powys letters to Dinah White

Some one hundred and seven letters and cards, 1953-1956, from John Cowper Powys to Dinah White, whom Powys addresses as 'dear adopted daughter'. The letters, some of which are illustrated with Powys's ink drawings, mostly refer to family, health and literary matters, in particular the declining health and death of his son Littleton Alfred Powys and White's role as his carer, the deaths of his brothers T. F. Powys and Littleton C. Powys and the health of his brother William (Willie). There are also references to John Cowper Powys and Phyllis Playter's move from Corwen to Blaenau Ffestiniog in 1955, and their new neighbours Raymond Garlick and his family; and to Cowper Powys's progress with his novel The Brazen Head (published 1956).

Powys, John Cowper, 1872-1963

Letters to Dinah White

Twenty-three letters and postcards, 1953-1956, to Dinah White from various correspondents, including Eric Harvey, 20 February 1954 (f. 6), Phyllis Playter, June 1954-December 1955 (ff. 15, 24), Lucy Amelia Penny, June-September 1955 (ff. 18-19, 23), and Michael Hanbury, January 1956 (ff. 25-26). The letters mainly concern the illness and death of Father Littleton Alfred Powys (ff. 1-14) and the hospitalisation and death of Littleton Charles Powys (ff. 19-23). There are also letters, photographs and an obituary relating to the late monastic founder Dom Aelred Carlyle (ff. 25-30).

Penny, Lucy Amelia, 1890-1986

Littleton C. Powys letters to Dinah White

Thirty-five letters and postcards, 1953-1955, to Dinah White from Littleton Charles Powys, brother of John Cowper Powys, mainly concerning Father Littleton Alfred Powys. Also included are a printed copy of Littleton Alfred's poem 'Ode to the West Wind' (1954) (ff. 12-13), an additional stanza of the 'Ode' transcribed by Dinah White but not included in the final version (f. 14), a set of typescript notes and comments on the 'Ode' (ff. 27-32), and a typescript copy of a poem by Pauline Clifft entitled 'Meeting' addressed to Littleton Charles's wife Elizabeth Myers (f. 4).

Powys, Littleton, 1874-1955

Printed material

Journals and other printed items collected by Dinah White relating to Father Littleton Alfred Powys and other members of the Powys family.
The items comprise obituaries of Littleton Alfred Powys, 1954 (ff. 1-2), and Littleton Charles Powys, 1955 (f. 3); The Shirburnian, 44.2 (Summer 1954), inscribed (f. 5) to Dinah White from John Cowper Powys, 8 August 1954, printing Littleton Alfred Powys's poem 'Ode to the West Wind'; The Beda Review, 7.8 (September 1955), inscribed 'For Dinah White from Littleton Powys Sept 9 1955' (inside front cover) and including an article on Littleton Alfred Powys; three issues of the Aylesford Review, 1.7 (Spring 1957) (articles (and reviews) on Elizabeth Myers, Littleton C. Powys and John Cowper Powys), 1.8 (Summer 1957) (an article on Littleton Alfred Powys), and 5.1 (Winter 1962-1963) (articles on Littleton Alfred Powys (one by Dinah White) and John Cowper Powys); A Review of English Literature, 4.1 (January 1963) (number in honour of John Cowper Powys); and a printed order of service, 1987, for Lucy Penny's funeral (on 10 November 1986), with a letter, 6 July 1987, to Dinah White from Lucy's son-in-law Gerard Casey (f. 166). Also included is a typescript copy of Part 1 of Mervin Havard-Brown's thesis 'Philosophy in the Works of John Cowper Powys', [1966] (ff. 174-201).

Casey, Gerard