Letters to Gwyn Jones,

Two letters, 1946-1947, to Gwyn Jones, the first from Dorothea Braby, London, 6 December 1946 (ff. 28-29), and the second from John Cowper Powys, Corwen, 11 November 1947 (ff. 30-32), both of which concern Gwyn and Thomas Jones's new translation of the Mabinogion, published as The Golden Cockerel Mabinogion ([London]: The Golden Cockerel Press, 1947).
Braby discusses her illustration for the title page of The Golden Cockerel Mabinogion and includes a written description of its layout (f. 29) (see Professor Gwyn Jones, 'The Golden Cockerel Mabinogion, 1944-1948', Trans. Cymm. (1989), 181-209 (pp. 197-206) for further details and for extracts of related letters from Braby). Powys congratulates Jones on the translation, requests a cheap edition and gives his thoughts on translations in general.

John Cowper Powys, novelist and playwright, was born in Shirley, Derbyshire. A Cambridge history graduate, Cowper Powys nevertheless devoted his time primarily to literature. He taught and lectured in England and on the Continent and undertook several lecturing tours of the United States, where he soon gained a reputation as an inspired and interpretative speaker in both literature and philosophy. Cowper Powys moved to Wales in 1935 and learnt to read Welsh, through which he broadened his knowledge of Welsh history and mythology. His numerous works include anthologies of poetry, novels and philosophical discussions. Cowper Powys met Phyllis Playter whilst in the United States in 1921; she became his lifelong companion, exerting a powerful and inspiring influence upon his work.

Arranged chronologically at NLW.

Mr Jeff Towns, Dylans Bookstore; Swansea; Purchase; March 2005; 0200502907.

John Cowper Powys, novelist and playwright, was born in Shirley, Derbyshire. A Cambridge history graduate, Cowper Powys nevertheless devoted his time primarily to literature. He taught and lectured in England and on the Continent and undertook several lecturing tours of the United States, where he soon gained a reputation as an inspired and interpretative speaker in both literature and philosophy. Cowper Powys moved to Wales in 1935 and learnt to read Welsh, through which he broadened his knowledge of Welsh history and mythology. His numerous works include anthologies of poetry, novels and philosophical discussions. Cowper Powys met Phyllis Playter whilst in the United States in 1921; she became his lifelong companion, exerting a powerful and inspiring influence upon his work.

Title based on contents.

Preferred citation: NLW MS 23925E, ff. 28-32.

Usual copyright laws apply. Information regarding ownership of John Cowper Powys copyright can be found at http://tyler.hrc.utexas.edu/ (viewed February 2011).

Further letters of Dorothea Braby to Gwyn Jones, 1945-1973, are NLW, Gwyn Jones Papers 7/279-329; further letters of John Cowper Powys to Gwyn Jones, 1938-1951, are in NLW, Gwyn Jones Papers 1, 41; letters of Gwyn Jones to John Cowper Powys are NLW, Gwyn Jones Papers 4/135 (dated 7 November 1947) and NLW MS 21873C, f. 4.

Published