Some fifty-eight letters and postcards, 1905-1938, from W. H. Davies to various correspondents, mainly concerning his own work and its publication, including some poetry. The letters were collected by E. E. Bissell.
The correspondents include T. I. F. Armstrong (John Gawsworth), 1931-1938 (ff. 1-22), John Freeman, [?early 1914]-1928 (ff. 24-34), Harold Monro, 1905-1927 (ff. 38-39, 41, 45-70), [James Brand] Pinker, 18 December 1905 (f. 72), [M. P.] Shiel, 1 June 1935 (f. 75), [John Collings] Squire, 1914, 1919 (ff. 76-77), and Edward Thomas, 7 December 1907 (f. 78). Also included are carbon copies of letters to Davies from Gawsworth, 19 August 1932 (f. 10), and Monro, 6 October 1920 (f. 44), and from Monro to Conrad Aiken, 20 July 1925 (f. 71); autograph manuscripts, with printers' markings, of Davies' poems 'The Bird of Paradise', [1913] (f. 40), and 'Body and Spirit', [1914] (ff. 42-43), for publication in Poetry and Drama, 1.4 (December 1913), 421, and 2.4 (December 1914), 350, respectively, and 'When Autumn's Fruit', [1920], published in the New Republic, 26 January 1921, p. 251 (f. 80); a signed typescript of Davies' 'In Winter', [October 1931], published by Gawsworth as a limited edition (f. 2); cuttings of 'Come, Melancholy' and 'Age and Youth' from the New Statesman and Nation, 16 January 1932, pp. 47, 65 (ff. 83-84; see also f. 11); proof pages for Davies' contributions to Known Signatures, ed. by John Gawsworth (London, 1932), pp. 31-33, comprising 'Come, Melancholy', 'Age and Youth' and 'In Winter' (ff. 81-82; see also ff. 10-11, 13-16); fragments of an apparently unpublished poem in Davies' hand entitled 'Sally', cut into five strips (f. 23/1-5); 'Bright Flowers', a autograph poem by John Freeman (f. 35); and a signed carte-de-visite photograph of Davies, [early 1900s], apparently presented by him to Edward Thomas.
