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Drafts of poems, 1916-1917.

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.

A manuscript draft, [1946], of David Jones's introduction to the BBC radio production of his war poem 'In Parenthesis', first transmitted on the Third Programme, 19 November 1946. The draft contains deletions and revisions in ink and pencil in the hand of the author.
This draft is much closer to the script in its final typescript form (see NLW, David Jones (Artist and Writer) Papers LP5/3, ff. vii-x) than are the other extant drafts (ibid, LP5/4, ff. 1-9). The only significant changes that remained to be incorporated are: a new sentence to replace the line at the beginning of f. 2, the loss of a reference to Brittany (f. 2), the truncation of a section on Maximus the Great (f. 2) and a much expanded ending, with a list of four quotes to be taken directly from the book's introduction substituted with the full quotations (f. 3). The introduction was pre-recorded by Jones; the remainder of the programme was performed live by the cast on 19 November, with a live repeat the following evening.

An uncorrected, bound, proof copy, [?April 1937] of David Jones, In Parenthesis: Seinnyessit e gledyf ym penn mameu (London: Faber & Faber Ltd, 1937).
The proof is effectively identical to the three sets used to produce the corrected proofs now NLW, David Jones (Artist and Writer) Papers LP4/4-6, dated 7-17 April 1937; parts of the subsequent revise (ibid, LP4/8-9) were passed for press. In Parenthesis was published in June 1937, corresponding to the date inscribed on the front cover.