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A holograph letter, dated 16 June 1953, from Dylan Thomas, Boat House, Laugharne, to his lover Elizabeth (Liz) Reitell, New York, concerning various personal and work matters. It was written soon after Thomas's return to Wales from his American tour and he describes his flight to London and his stay there in the days after the Coronation.
The letter is published in Dylan Thomas, The Collected Letters New Edition, ed. by Paul Ferris (London, 2000), pp. 994-5. The original envelope is included (f. 2a).

Printed copies of three of Idris Davies's poetry volumes: (i) The Angry Summer: A Poem of 1926 (London, 1943), (ii) Tonypandy and Other Poems (London, 1945) and (iii) Selected Poems (London, 1953), each inscribed (either on the title page or on the front flyleaf) by Davies to his fiancée Morfydd Peregrine.

Three letters, 1951-1953, from Dylan Thomas and his parents to Dylan's cousin, Mai Griffiths of Cross Hands.
They consist of: a letter from Dylan, 16 December 1952, informing Mai of the death of his father that day (ff. 3-4; apparently unpublished); a letter from his father David John (Jack), 28 June 1951, sympathising with Mai on the recent loss of her husband and giving family news (ff. 1-2); and a letter from his mother Florence (Florrie), 4 May [1953], on the recent death of Florence's daughter Nancy (ff. 5-6).

Fifteen testimonial letters, 1899-1921, for Dafydd Rhys Jones ('Jones Pat'), headmaster of the Gaiman Higher Grade School, Chubut, 1906-1915, and of the Cwmystwyth, Pontrhydfendigaid and Ysbyty Ystwyth Council Schools, Cardiganshire, 1902-1906, 1917-1941.
Among the referees are Professors Edward Anwyl, 1900 (ff. 4-5), and T. Gwynn Jones, 1919 (f. 16). Also included are extracts from the annual reports for Cwmystwyth School for 1903-1905 (f. 19) and newspaper cuttings, [c. 1916]-[1953], mostly relating to Devil's Bridge and Ysbyty Ystwyth (ff. 20-21).

A holograph draft of a section of Dylan Thomas’s story 'The Outing'.

One page of untitled holograph notes by Dylan Thomas, 1953, written whilst composing his last poem, the unfinished 'Elegy' to his father, David John (D.J.) Thomas, who died on 16 December 1952.
The work first appeared in print, as a 'previously unpublished poem', in Encounter, 6/2 (February 1956), and was included by Vernon Watkins as an appendix to the Collected Poems after 1956. For a copy of the poem as completed by Vernon Watkins, see NLW MS 22552E.

Correspondence, 1952-1953, of A. W. F. Burton, New South Wales, mostly with Major R. Money Barnes, Wiltshire, author of Uniforms and History of the Scottish Regiments: Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, 1625 to the Present Day (London, 1956). The correspondence relates to research conducted by Burton for that book, on Barnes's behalf, with regard to Australian Scottish Regiments (see Appendix III, pp. 332-335).
Also included are apparently unrelated items, 1910, concerning aviation in Britain (ff. 18-22).

A copy of Huw Menai's Through the Upcast Shaft ([1922], 3rd edn), with newspaper cuttings of later poems pasted in and added to the list of contents and notes in the author's hand on flyleaf and f. i (NLW MS 21884iB). Additional cuttings of poems pasted on loose sheets as a continuation of the printed volume, together with three autograph poems, one typescript poem bearing manuscript additions and other cuttings found loose inside the volume, have been filed separately (NLW MS 21884iiD).

Miscellaneous papers in Welsh and English, 1822-[c.1950], mainly of Merthyr Tudful interest, accumulated by Elias Thomas, comprising poems and essays by his great-grandfather Rowland Thomas ('Idris Ddu'), his grandfather, William R. Thomas, and others, including an essay on the origin of the Cyfarthfa Ironworks by Rowland Thomas, with a translation of the same by Thomas Stephens (1821-75) of Merthyr; draft letters, articles and notes by Thomas Stephens; printed rules, 1846, of 'Cymdeithas Cadarn Graig y Cymry', Merthyr; and miscellaneous notes and press cuttings.

Typescript draft by Ernest Lewis Thomas ('Richard Vaughan', 1904-1983) of his first novel, Moulded in Earth (London, 1951), with corrections by the author, being the final draft submitted to the publishers, incorporating a number of changes to the earlier manuscript draft (now NLW MS 14799C).

Five letters, 1949-51, from David Jones to Mildred Mary Ede, mother of Jim Ede, founder of Kettle's Yard, Cambridge. The letters refer mainly to the painting 'Vexilla Regis' purchased by Mrs Ede and now at Kettle's Yard. Also included is a letter, 1951, from David Baxandall of the Manchester City Art Gallery, concerning a proposed exhibition.

Two personal copies of the journal Dock leaves which belonged to the artist Arthur Giardelli (1911–2009). Dock leaves, vol. I, no. 2 (Easter 1950), includes his article : ‘The Glyn Vivian art gallery’, and a letter, dated June 1950, from Raymond Garlick. Dock leaves, vol. II, no. 5 (May 1951), contains two letters, dated October 1951, from Friedrich R. Könekamp, author of the article ‘Artists and specialists’, published in this edition.

Typewritten copies of letters relating to the antiquities of Counties Fermanagh, Roscommon, Sligo and Dublin, containing information collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1834-1835.

A collection of six letters, [1936]-1950, from Dylan Thomas, comprising one letter to Caitlin Thomas, [6 September 1945], mainly concerning money, work and their living arrangements (f. 3), and three letters to his parents, D.J. and Florence Thomas, sent from Oxford, 12 January 1947 (ff. 4-9), from Florence, Italy (but giving as his address that of the family's next destination on Elba), 19 July 1947 (ff. 10-12), and from New York, 26 February 1950 (f. 13); together with typescript copies, possibly by Thomas, of two letters from him, dated 9 March 1936 and 13 July 1938, to Wyn Henderson (the presumed original letters are in the University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Library) (ff. 1-2).
All the letters appear in Dylan Thomas, The Collected Letters: New Edition, ed. by Paul Ferris (London, 2000).

The file contains a number of letters from John Petts, Peter Petts and Brenda Chamberlain to the Vale family of Bethesda, a collection of greetings cards with drawings by the Petts brothers and Brenda Chamberlain, designed and printed at the Caseg Press, Llanystumdwy, together with copies of Caseg Press Broadsheets numbers 1 and 2.

Illustrations of and notes by Sir Alfred T. Davies (1861-1949) on Bont Cottage, Aberaeron, said to have connections with Thomas Jones (Twm Sion Cati) (c. 1530-1609).

Letters (6), 1934-1950 and undated, to J. J. Williams, M.A., Assistant Director of Education for Birkenhead, viz. one letter, typewritten, [19]39, from J. Glyn Davies, Cambridge, and five letters, 1934-1950 and undated, four holograph, the other typewritten, from Bob [i.e. Robert Williams] Parry, Bethesda, together with a telegram and a letter, December, 1950, to Mrs. [E. M.] Williams, widow of J. J. Williams, the one from R[obert] W[illiams] Parry, the other from R. W. and M[yfanwy] Parry, on hearing of the death of J. J. Williams.

A typed transcript, 1948, of the memoirs and journal of Thomas Jones, Pencerrig, recounting his life in London, France and especially Italy during the second half of the eighteenth century. It was copied from another typescript (then owned by C. L. Evan-Thomas) of the original manuscript (now NLW MS 23812D).
The volume broadly covers the period from the 1760s to December 1783, with a final entry by Jones at Pencerrig, November 1798 (ff. 303-304). The main text is typed on the rectos only, with Jones' original notes reproduced on the facing versos. Facsimile copies of a sketch of Mt Vesuvius and a plan of Jones’ lodgings in Naples in 1780, apparently redrafted by the creator of the initial typescript, have been inserted after ff. 168 and 201.

Over nine hundred portraits, mostly studio, predominantly of First World War era British Soldiers. Most are individual portraits, some are in small groups with family or friends, also large group photographs. Many depicting a Territorial Force summer camp may well be from a 1913 camp held between Bridge and Lovelock farms, Ffairfach in the summer of 1913. The vast majority are anonymous but some can be given approximate dates by the presence of overseas service chevrons, good conduct stripes etc. Many of those dated 1914, especially the Pembroke Yeomanry, may well date from the years preceding the outbreak of WW1. Other portraits are of members of associated services and include veterans of earlier conflicts and servicemen & women from World War Two. The latter category including American troops from the 28th Division who were camped in South Wales from October 1943 until July 1944 as well as Free French and Belgian soldiers. Both US Corps of Engineers and infantry corps are represented. The engineers are believed to be men of the 103rd Engineer Battalion who served with the 28th Division. Their headquarters from October 1943 to April 1944 was the Hotel Belgrave, Tenby. There are also a considerable number of US Quartermaster Corps GI's including African-American soldiers.

Over a hundred letters, 1643-1947, of miscellaneous provenance.