File AAD/1 - John Cowper Powys miscellanea

Identity area

Reference code

AAD/1

Title

John Cowper Powys miscellanea

Date(s)

  • 1892-1976 (Creation)

Level of description

File

Extent and medium

351 ff. (1 box)

Context area

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Miscellaneous items of or relating to John Cowper Powys, comprising printed signed confirmations by Henry Barclay Swete, Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, and Herbert Edward Ryle, Hulsean Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, that Powys attended a course of their lectures during 1892 and 1893, with a note by Powys's father the Reverend Charles Francis Powys; Powys's certificate of rejection from the Army Medical Board, 29 May 1918 (signed by Powys); an envelope inscribed by Powys 'Little Objects of unknown value belong to me' containing various receipts, 1919, a cheque dated 22 May 1919 made out to Powys's wife Margaret Powys, a printed calling card of Mrs T. Oatley Bennett, an envelope containing butterfly antennae (the contents noted on the envelope by Powys), and an undated newspaper cutting detailing accommodation to let; an immigration visa (as nonquota returning immigrant) dated 2 September 1924, which is signed by Powys and displays a photograph of him; a printed announcement of a testimonial dinner held in honour of Powys, 29 May 1929; a prescription note for Powys from Dr Max Einhorn of New York City to Dr C. Thomas, dated 15 March 1930, suggesting a diagnosis of excess stomach acid and possible gastric ulcer; a poem by William J. Williams ('The Catholic') entitled L'Ours' written out in Powys's hand; a watercoloured ink drawing by Powys depicting caricatures of Owain Glyndŵr, Hitler, a sea-serpent (possibly the poet Huw Owen Williams (Huw Menai), whom Powys often depicted in this guise) holding the sword Excalibur, and Powys himself (bottom left); a pocket diary for 1949 containing mainly names and addresses and memoranda, with a photograph on f. 22 inscribed on the back by Powys 'Sammy Clemens great nephew or great cousin of Mark Twain!!'; an address book, with occasional entries also by Phyllis Playter; a caricatured ink drawing of Powys and Phyllis Playter by Powys, dated 29 April 1951; a copy of Blaenau Observed A Broadcast Poem (Dock Leaves Press, 1957) by Raymond Garlick, inscribed 'Raymond Garlick 30:XII:57'; a list written on headed British Museum paper 'For John Cowper Powys, from some admirers of his genius' (comprising Museum staff and University lecturers); an invitation to attend a Buckingham Palace garden party held on 20 July 1961; an address book, with occasional entries also by Phyllis Playter; printed cards 'to his Friends' announcing that Powys would no longer be writing letters 'owing to the Physical and Mental Infirmities of Old Age'; a certificate and related material from the University of Wales, Cardiff conferring (in absentia) on Powys the honourary degree of D.Litt., July 1962; a list of household expenses in Powys's hand, showing that 'stationary & Postage' was the single greatest expense for the period in question; and a typescript copy of a radio broadcast, dated 24 May 1976, entitled A Glastonbury Romance, written and read by P. J. Kavanagh. Together with an undated poem entitled Forum Romanum by Frances Gregg, with whom Powys had a relationship prior to settling down with Phyllis Playter, and two typescript biographical pieces on the novelist, pamphleteer and physician Louis Ferdinand Auguste Destouches (Louis-Ferdinand Céline), one of which is by Powys translator Marie Canavaggia (undated) and the other by 'J. C[?anavaggia], dated June 1962.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Arranged chronologically as far as possible.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to abide by the conditions set out in information provided when applying for their Readers' Tickets, whereby the reader shall become responsible for compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 in relation to any processing by them of personal data obtained from modern records held at the Library. = Disgwylir i ddarllenwyr sydd am ddefnyddio papurau modern yn Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru gydymffurfio â Deddf Gwarchod Data 1998 yng nghyd-destun unrhyw brosesu ganddynt o ddata personol a gasglwyd o gofnodion modern sydd ar gadw yn y Llyfrgell. Nodir y manylion yn yr wybodaeth a roddir wrth wneud cais am Docyn Darllen.

Conditions governing reproduction

Usual copyright laws apply.

Language of material

Script of material

Language and script notes

English, French, Welsh.

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Powys's immigration visa and Frances Gregg's poem both (especially the latter) torn and fragile. Several leaves of the pocket diary excised; many leaves of the address books excised, some loose.

Finding aids

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Notes area

Note

Title based on contents.

Alternative identifier(s)

Virtua system control number

vtls006757487

Access points

Subject access points

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Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales

Rules and/or conventions used

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

Script(s)

Sources

Archivist's note

Description compiled by Bethan Ifan.

Accession area