Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1927-1976 (Creation)
Level of description
Sub-sub-fonds
Extent and medium
53 folders.
LP1/1-9, LP2/1-10, LP3/1-11: Placed in melinex sleeves within ringed boxes at NLW.
Context area
Name of creator
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The group contains early manuscript drafts Parts I-VII, final manuscript drafts Parts I-VII, typescripts No. 1-7, Page proofs no. 1-12, broadcast scripts and related material. There are some manuscript drafts to be found among the typescripts (LP3) and some typescripts to be found among the final manuscript drafts (LP2). The final manuscript draft from which the full typescript must have been made, and galley proofs, do not exist.
In Parenthesis: seinnyessit e gledyf ym penn mameu (1937) is an epic war poem which deals with the experiences of a soldier in the First World War . It is based on the period David Jones spent in France between December 1915 and July 1916. He began writing in 1927 and it was virtually complete in 1933 when he suffered a breakdown. It was published in 1937 by Faber, and was regarded by T. S. Eliot as 'a work of genius'. He was awarded the Hawthornden prize for it in 1938. The first radio production of In Parenthesis was transmitted in 1942. In 1961 a limited edition of In Parenthesis, with an introduction by T. S. Eliot, was published by Faber.
See Daniel Huws' introduction to the proposed catalogue of In Parenthesis (NLW ex 2393) for explanation of development of text, pagination and arrangement. See also a note by Harman Grisewood in the same folder on how the manuscript drafts were originally in two boxes.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Arranged into six series: early manuscript drafts, final manuscript drafts, typescripts, proofs, broadcasts and related material.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Generated finding aid
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
All material in this group is from the 1978 purchase except where noted on file level. In Parenthesis files include notes by Library staff, which have been incorporated into the description where possible. See also two folders of notes on In Parenthesis, including a 'map' of the drafts and proofs in NLW ex 2393.
Note
Some items (from files LP1/1, LP2/1, LP2/2, LP2/8, and CF2/6) were displayed at an exhibition at the Imperial War Museum, London, October 2002 - April 2003, 'Anthem for Doomed Youth. Twelve Soldier Poets of the First World War'.
Note
Preferred citation: LP