Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1940-2005 (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
1988-1995 purchases: 0.45 cubic metres (50 boxes).
October 2000 purchase: 2 large boxes + 6 small boxes (0.112 m³)
January 2005 purchase: 2 large boxes (0.058 m³) + 24 small boxes (0.216 m³) + 1 over-sized rectangular box +1 long box + 1 over-sized wallet
December 2022 purchase: 10 large boxes + 6 small boxes (0.340 m³) + 2 over-sized wallets + 1 over-sized square box
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Dannie Abse was born in 1923 in Cardiff, Glamorgan. He studied at the Welsh National School of Medicine, and at King's College and Westminster Hospital in London, qualifying as a doctor in 1943. He entered clinical practice, and was a specialist at the Central Medical Establishment chest clinic, 1954-1989. He is a prolific writer and poet. He is deeply interested by 1930s politics and the Spanish Civil War, which formed the background to his schooldays. His poetry is influenced by his Jewish heritage, Welsh nationality, and his life as a family man and a London suburban dweller. He has published seven volumes of poetry and seven plays. He was Senior Fellow of the Humanities at Princeton University (1973-1974), and president of the Poetry Society (1978-1992). He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1983, Fellow of the Welsh Academy of Letters in 1992 (President since 1995), Honorary Fellow at the University of Wales College of Medicine (1999), and awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Wales (1989) and the University of Glamorgan (1997). He was given a Cholmondeley Award (1985). Abse is married to the art historian Joan Mercer, and together they edited, Voices in the Gallery: Poems and Pictures (1986) and The Music Lover's Literary Companion (1988). They live in Glamorgan.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
1988-1995 purchases: Purchased from R. A. Gekoski, Leamington Spa, 1988-1995.
October 2000 purchase: Purchased from R. A. Gekoski, London, acting on behalf of Dannie Abse, October 2000.
January 2005 purchase: Purchased from Dr Dannie Abse, London, January 2005.
December 2022 purchase: Purchased from Keren Abse, daughter of Dannie Abse, December 2022.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
1988-1995 purchases:
Literary, editorial and personal correspondence, draft and unpublished poetry, short stories and other works, and miscellaneous papers, 1955-1995; unpublished short stories and articles, articles and essays, reviews, lectures, plays, broadcasts, ghost-writing, miscellaneous prose, and editorials.
October 2000 purchase:
Papers, mainly of a literary nature, of the poet, writer and physician Dannie Abse, comprising material relating to the composition and publication of poetry anthologies and of prose works, including autobiography, novels and anthologies, and to plays and play anthologies; draft and published articles and reviews by Abse, with related correspondence; material relating to Abse's many poetry/prose readings, talks, lectures and workshops; a significant amount of correspondence, largely comprising letters to Abse from Anglo-Welsh, English and American writers; material relating to Abse's television appearances and his contributions to radio programmes and to sound and video recordings; notebook; and miscellaneous items, both relating to Dannie Abse and those of a more general nature.
Together with a small number of papers of or relating to Abse's wife, the writer and art historian Joan Abse.
See Annual Report 1987-88, p. 61, 1992-93, p. 59, 1994-95, p. 59.
January 2005 purchase:
Papers of or relating to poet, writer, playwright and physician Dannie Abse, comprising draft and proof poetry and prose (including plays) and material relating to published poetry and prose works by Dannie Abse; material relating to readings, talks, lectures and workshops presented/co-presented by Dannie Abse; material relating to Dannie Abse's participation in radio and television programmes and in sound and video recordings; material relating to exhibitions showcasing Dannie Abse and his work; printed posters featuring poetry by Dannie Abse or which advertise events featuring Abse; material relating to Joseph Cohen's work The Poetry of Dannie Abse: critical essays and reminiscences (Robson Books, 1983); notebooks of Dannie Abse, containing draft poetry and prose dating from the 1940s onwards; and miscellaneous items, some with direct reference to Dannie Abse and others of more general interest.
Together with a few papers of Joan Abse, wife of Dannie Abse, comprising material relating to Letters from Wales (Seren Books, 2000), edited by Joan Abse, and correspondence to/from Joan Abse. Much of Dannie Abse's correspondence is also addressed to Joan Abse.
December 2022 purchase:
Papers, mostly relating to the literary career of poet, writer and physician Dannie Abse, comprising poetry, prose, plays, articles and reviews, diaries and notebooks, correspondence, accounts and press cuttings. Together with papers of or relating to Abse's wife, the writer and art historian Joan Abse.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Action: All records purchased by the National Library of Wales have been retained..
Accruals
Accruals are possible.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to sign the 'Modern papers - data protection' form.
Conditions governing reproduction
Usual copyright regulations apply.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
See under individual headings.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
See under individual headings.
Finding aids
A hard copy of the catalogue is available at the National Library of Wales.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title supplied from contents of fonds.
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
Project identifier
Access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Abse, Dannie -- Archives. (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Description follows ANW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.; AACR2; and LCSH
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
1988-1995 purchases: January 2003.
October 2000 purchase: Completed May 2026.
January 2005 purchase: Completed August 2026.
December 2022 purchase: August 2025.
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
1988-1995 purchases: Compiled by Seri Crawley, for the ANW project. The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: Stephens, Meic, Oxford Companion to the Literature of Wales, (Oxford, 1986).; Dannie Abse webpage (www.contemporarywriters.com), viewed 14 January 2003.
Archivist's note
October 2000 purchase: Compiled by Bethan Ifan, completed May 2026, primarily utilising primary source material and online search engines.
Archivist's note
January 2005 purchase: Compiled by Bethan Ifan, completed August 2026, utilising the following sources: Dannie Abse: Selected Poems (Penguin, 1994); Dannie Abse; On The Evening Road (Hutchinson, (1994); Dannie Abse; Ask The Bloody Horse (Hutchinson, 1986); Dannie Abse: Way Out In The Centre (Hutchinson, 1981); Dannie Abse: White Coat, Purple Coat: Collected Poems 1948-1988 (Hutchinson, 1989); Dannie Abse; The Presence (Hutchinson, 2007); primary source material; online search engines.
Archivist's note
December 2022 purchase: Compiled by Bethan Ifan, August 2025, utilising the following sources: Dannie Abse: Goodbye, Twentieth Century (Parthian, 2011); Tony Curtis: Dannie Abse (Writers of Wales series) (University of Wales Press, 1985); primary source material; online search engines.