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Five manuscript and two typescript letters, 30 November 1956-10 September 1957, from Wystan [Hugh] Auden, Forio d'Ischia, near Naples, and Oxford, to Vernon Watkins (ff. 1-7), together with one poem by Auden (f. 8).
The letters concern the choices and alternative choices for Poetry Book Society recommendations, the judges of which were Auden, Watkins and Vita Sackville-West; Auden refers to works by Thom Gunn, Roy Campbell, Theodore Roethke, Edmund Blunden and Louis MacNeice. Enclosed with the final letter is a typescript copy of Auden's poem 'The More Loving One' (see Collected Shorter Poems, 1927-1957 (London, 1966), p. 282).

Some fourteen letters, 1923-1950 (mostly 1923-1924), from Vernon Watkins to his schoolfriend, Eric V. Falk, chiefly concerned with life at Repton School and the poet's unhappiness after leaving, including two apparently unpublished poems (ff. 14-15); together with two further letters to Falk, 1923, one being from Graham B. Smith, history master at Repton, the 'Mr Holmes' of Christopher Isherwood's Lions and Shadows (London, 1938).

Three typescript letters, March-August 1962, from the poet Vernon Watkins, Pennard Cliffs, to a Mr Rogers, giving advice about the latter's poems and explaining his own approach to writing poetry.

Two typescript letters, 1953-1955, from Vernon Watkins, Pennard, to poet and publisher John Lehmann, the first, 13 November 1953, concerning the death of Watkins's close friend Dylan Thomas four days earlier (f. 46), the second, 8 August 1955, concerning his foreword to Dylan Thomas, Adventures in the Skin Trade (London, 1955) (f. 47).

Twelve letters, 1949-1967, from Vernon Watkins to various correspondents, together with eleven letters, 1940-1941, to Watkins from J. R. Ackerley, chiefly concerned with the poet's work.

A letter, 12 December 1964, from Vernon Watkins, Pennard, to the poet and editor Neville Braybrooke, in which he discusses 'The Beach of Falesá', the recently published adaptation by Dylan Thomas of R. L. Stevenson's novella (see Dylan Thomas, The Beach of Falesá (New York, 1963)), as well as his recent work and his visit to Seattle the previous Spring.

Forty-five letters and cards, 1948-1967 (mostly 1964-1967), from Vernon Watkins to his mother, Sarah Watkins, 1962-1967 (ff. 1-71), and to his sisters, Marjorie Watkins, 1964 (ff. 72-73), and Dorothy Watkins, 1948-1967 (ff. 74-94 verso), containing mainly personal and family news.

Typescript draft, [1940s], of Vernon Watkins's poem 'Yeats in Dublin' (ff. 1-7; see also NLW MS 21263E, ff. 46-58); a radio script, 1958, of Watkins's 'The Ballad of the Mari Lwyd', produced by Douglas Cleverdon and annotated by him (ff. 8-30); and personal and family correspondence, [c. 1946]-1988 (ff. 31-70).

Eighty letters, 1939-1966, to John Davenport, literary critic and friend of Dylan Thomas, much of the correspondence relating to literary matters (ff. 1-91). There are references to Thomas throughout, including detailed (and contrasting) accounts, by John Malcolm Brinnin (ff. 12-13) and George Reavey (ff. 71-72 verso), of events surrounding his death.
The correspondents include Kingsley Amis, 1955-1965 (ff. 1-6), John Malcolm Brinnin, 1952-1953 (ff. 11-13), Walford Davies, 1963-1965 (ff. 16-23), Constantine FitzGibbon, 1950-1966 (ff. 27-52), Glyn Jones, March-April 1965 (ff. 57-59), T. H. Jones, 9 November 1961 (f. 60), George Reavey, [November 1953] (ff. 71-72), Roger Roughton, 1939-1940 (ff. 73-80), Caitlin Thomas, 1947-[?1952] (ff. 81-85, including a postcard also signed by Dylan Thomas), and Vernon Watkins, 1956-1965 (ff. 86-90). Also included are further papers relating to Dylan Thomas, comprising manuscript notes by Davenport, [1956x1966] (ff. 92-100); a postcard, [?1950], to Thomas from Jack Lindsay in Prague (f. 101); a typescript, 10 November 1953, of a radio obituary to Thomas by Davenport (ff. 102-104); a typescript article, [mid-1950s], on Thomas by Davenport (ff. 105-114); and press cuttings, 1954-1965 (ff. 115-121). A typescript table of contents is ff. i-iii. Three of the Kingsley Amis letters (ff. 1, 2, 4) are published in The Letters of Kingsley Amis, ed. by Zachary Leader (London, 2000) (pp. 448-50, 464-5, 527-8).

Some hundred letters, 1929-80 (correspondents N-W), to Ceri and Frances Richards, many of them concerned with their work as artists. The correspondents include John Ormond (11) [?1940s]-1976 (with typescript and autograph drafts and fair copies of poems, and typescript text of a radio broadcast by him, 1954, entitled 'Rest and Unrest: the Art of Ceri Richards'), Victor Pasmore (1) 1969, Peter Pears (8) [1960s-70s], Sir John Rothenstein (2) 1958-68, Roberto Sanesi (12) 1961-76, Stephen Spender (2) 1962, Graham Sutherland (3) [?1941]-56, Vernon Watkins (10) 1960-7 (see note 544, below), with one autograph and one typescript poem.

Thirteen letters, 1957-1967 from Vernon Watkins to his wife, his mother and his sister, reflecting the poet's family and public life (ff. 1-25). Also included are 30 letters of the same nature, 1938-1967, addressed to Vernon Watkins from various correspondents, including poet Charles Causley, 1962-1967 (ff. 26-32), lifelong friend Eric V. Falk, [1938]-1963 (ff. 35-47), and wife, Gwen, 1945-1947 (ff. 59-66). The correspondence includes a photograph of Vernon, Gwen and Rhiannon Watkins, [1945] (f. 65).
The file also includes 34 letters and cards, 1965 and 1967-2004, addressed to Gwen Watkins from various correspondents, including Roy Fuller, 1976 (f. 74), Michael Hamburger, 1972-2004 (ff. 75-78), John Heath-Stubbs, 1998 (f. 79), Andrew Motion, 1987 (f. 81), Leslie Norris, 1974-1980 (ff. 82-86), Peter Redgrove, 1977 (f. 88), and David Wright, 1971-1988 (ff. 101-106). Most of these letters relate to Vernon Watkins's poetry.

A facsimile copy, [1965x1985], of a letter, 15 July 1937, from Dylan Thomas, Mousehole, Cornwall, to Vernon Watkins, announcing his marriage to Caitlin Macnamara and apologising for altering a poem by Watkins prior to publication.
The original letter is now BL Add MS 52612, f. 5. It was first published in Dylan Thomas, Letters to Vernon Watkins, ed. by Vernon Watkins (London, 1957), pp. 27-28; see also The Collected Letters of Dylan Thomas: New Edition, ed. by Paul Ferris (London, 2000), p. 294.

Some ninety-three letters, 1939-1968, mostly to Vernon Watkins, with one to Dorothy Watkins, 1968, from various correspondents (surnames S-W), including Roberto Sanesi (3) 1957-1968, M. J. Tambimuttu (4) 1940-1964, and Grace Williams (12) 1965-1967, together with eight letters, 1950-1964, to various correspondents from Vernon Watkins, some being drafts or copies.

Some eighty-two letters, 1937-1977, to Vernon Watkins, with a few addressed to Mrs Gwen Watkins, from various correspondents (surnames P-R), including Keidrych Rhys (22, with one copy letter from Vernon Watkins) 1937-1956, and Ceri Richards (26, together with six of Watkins's replies) [c. 1948]-1967.

Some ninety-eight letters, 1939-1976, to Vernon Watkins, with a few addressed to Mrs Gwen Watkins, from various correspondents (surnames H-O), including Michael Hamburger (12, including two poems) 1949-1967, Alfred Janes (4) 1949-1967, Dr Daniel Jones (5) 1947-1970, Glyn Jones (1) 1945, Professor Gwyn Jones (3) 1939-1976, Ray Howard-Jones (1) 1966, and Roland Mathias (1) 1965.

Over a hundred letters, 1938-1968, to Vernon Watkins, with a few addressed to Mrs Gwen Watkins, from various correspondents (surnames A-G), including Douglas Cleverdon (14) 1958-1968, Cyril Connolly (1) 1947, T. S. Eliot (1 transcript) 1947, and Roy Fuller (1) 1967.

Some sixty-five letters, 1944-1967, to Vernon Watkins from various correspondents, who include Aneirin Talfan Davies (1) 1963, Winifred Ellerman (Bryher) (1) 1953, Constantine Fitzgibbon (7, copies of extracts) 1964-1965, Mervyn Levy (1) 1957, and Goronwy Rees (2) 1956; together with copies of three letters, 1965, from Vernon Watkins. Also included are typescript drafts, 1961-1967, by Vernon Watkins for various published and unpublished articles, mainly on aspects of literature, together with two calligraphic manuscripts by W. Emlyn Davies relating to Vernon Watkins.