- NLW MS 23785E.
- File
- [1962]-1980
A typescript copy, [1962]-1979, of Saunders Lewis's Welsh play 'Excelsior', first published Swansea, 1980, with corrections in the author's hand (ff. 1-56); together with correspondence, 1980, in English and Welsh, of the publisher Christopher Davies, regarding its publication in view of the allegation, when broadcast in 1962, that it libelled the Rev. Llywelyn Williams, MP (ff. 57-81).
The typescript consists of pages from the original script, [1962], transmitted on BBC TV on St David's Day 1962 (ff. 5-16, 20-21, 42-51), interspersed with revised sections, [1979], for an abortive stage version (ff. 17-19, 22-41, 52-56), and the new Preface for the published volume, April 1980 (ff. 2-4). The correspondence consists of nineteen letters, April-October 1980, including copies and drafts, mostly between Saunders Lewis, Christopher Davies, Sir Alun Talfan Davies and Glyndwr Williams, brother of Llywelyn Williams. A cutting of Clive Betts' article, 'Saunders Lewis publishes play BBC abandoned' (Western Mail, 1 December 1980, p. 9), is on f. 82. The 1962 and 1980 versions of the play both appear in Dramâu Saunders Lewis: Y Casgliad Cyflawn, Cyfrol 2, ed. by Ioan M. Williams (Cardiff, 2000), pp. 273-414.
Lewis, Saunders, 1893-1985