Saunders Lewis Manuscripts

Papers, 1901-1991, of dramatist, poet and literary critic John Saunders Lewis consisting mainly of correspondence and comprising letters, 1914-1955, between Saunders Lewis and Margaret Lewis (née Gilcriest), including letters written whilst Saunders Lewis was serving in the First World War and whilst he was imprisoned in Wormwood Scrubs in 1937; letters, 1919-1984, to Saunders Lewis from various correspondents, including seventy-three letters, 1923-1983, from Kate Roberts, and fifty-three letters and cards, 1948-1974, from artist and writer David Jones, together with letters, 1937, to Margaret Lewis from David Jones and from various correspondents to her, 1919-1951; letters, 1919-1924, to Saunders Lewis from his father Lodwig Lewis, and letters, 1952, 1984-[c. 1986], to Mair Saunders Jones, daughter of Saunders and Margaret Lewis, including a letter, 1952, from Kate Roberts; together with autograph and typescript drafts of plays by Saunders Lewis, 1936-1983, articles, notes and addresses by him, including students notebooks of 1914-1920, and poetry, 1912-1947, by both Saunders and Margaret Lewis.
References include those to Plaid Cymru, Welsh nationalism, contemporary Welsh literature, the state of the Welsh language at the time, and Roman Catholicism.

Saunders Lewis, dramatist, poet, historian and literary critic, was born in Wallasey, Cheshire to a family of prominent Welsh Calvinistic Methodists. He was educated at a boys's school in Liscard and at Liverpool University, where he studied English and French. His academic career was interrupted by the First World War, in which Lewis served with the South Wales Borderers, but he quickly resumed his studies at the end of the conflict, and, having graduated, worked as librarian in Glamorgan before taking up a post as lecturer in the Welsh department of the University College of Swansea. In 1925, Lewis was one of the pioneering figures involved in establishing the National Party of Wales (later known as Plaid Cymru) and was made President of the fledgeling organisation the following year. Having written about the Roman Catholic church for a number of years, in 1932 Lewis converted to the faith also practised by his wife Margaret. In 1936, Lewis, D. J. Williams and Lewis Valentine set fire to the Royal Airforce's Bombing School in Penyberth on the Lleyn Peninsula, an event which has gone down in the annals of Welsh history and which earned Lewis imprisonment in Wormwood Scrubs and dismissal from his lecturing post in Swansea. He was eventually appointed senior lecturer in Welsh at the University of Cardiff but retired in 1957 to devote his time to writing. Lewis's litarary output is prodigious and he is considered by many to be the most important Welsh literary and political figure of the twentieth century; it is considered that his radio address for 1962, Tynged yr Iaith, was the direct instigating force behind the establishment of the Welsh language movement Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg.

Arranged according to NLW MSS reference numbers: NLW MSS 22723-22727, 22951-22964, 23015-23027, 23224-23233, 23547-23548.

Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to abide by the conditions noted on the 'Modern papers - data protection' form issued with their readers' tickets.

NLW MSS 22723-22737: John Saunders Lewis; Donation; 1964, 1980, 1984 (kept under seal until the deaths of Saunders Lewis, Kate Roberts and David Jones).
NLW MSS 22723-22737: Mrs Mair Saunders Jones, daughter of Saunders Lewis; Penarth; Donation; 1986.
NLW MSS 22951-22964, 23015-23027, 23224-23233, 23547-23548: Mrs Mair Saunders Jones, daughter of Saunders Lewis; Penarth; Purchase; 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996.

Saunders Lewis, dramatist, poet, historian and literary critic, was born in Wallasey, Cheshire to a family of prominent Welsh Calvinistic Methodists. He was educated at a boys's school in Liscard and at Liverpool University, where he studied English and French. His academic career was interrupted by the First World War, in which Lewis served with the South Wales Borderers, but he quickly resumed his studies at the end of the conflict, and, having graduated, worked as librarian in Glamorgan before taking up a post as lecturer in the Welsh department of the University College of Swansea. In 1925, Lewis was one of the pioneering figures involved in establishing the National Party of Wales (later known as Plaid Cymru) and was made President of the fledgeling organisation the following year. Having written about the Roman Catholic church for a number of years, in 1932 Lewis converted to the faith also practised by his wife Margaret. In 1936, Lewis, D. J. Williams and Lewis Valentine set fire to the Royal Airforce's Bombing School in Penyberth on the Lleyn Peninsula, an event which has gone down in the annals of Welsh history and which earned Lewis imprisonment in Wormwood Scrubs and dismissal from his lecturing post in Swansea. He was eventually appointed senior lecturer in Welsh at the University of Cardiff but retired in 1957 to devote his time to writing. Lewis's litarary output is prodigious and he is considered by many to be the most important Welsh literary and political figure of the twentieth century; it is considered that his radio address for 1962, Tynged yr Iaith, was the direct instigating force behind the establishment of the Welsh language movement Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg.

The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume VIII (Aberystwyth, 1999); Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume IX (Aberystwyth, 2003); Cydymaith i Lenyddiaeth Cymru (Llandysul, 1986)

Title based on contents.

The descriptions are also available, together with a detailed list of contents, in Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume VIII (Aberystwyth, 1999) and Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume IX (Aberystwyth, 2003).

March 2009.

Description compiled by Bethan Ifans for the retrospective conversion project of NLW MSS.

Usual copyright laws apply.

Published

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales