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David Jones (Artist and Writer) Papers Sub-sub-fonds World War, 1914-1918 -- Poetry
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In Parenthesis

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.