Edward Thomas: War Diary

This material is held atNational Library of Wales / Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru

  • Reference
    • GB 210 NLW MS 24030i & iiA.
  • Alternative Id.
      (alternative) vtls006297149
      (alternative) cymruww1
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1917
  • Physical Description
    • NLW MS 24030iA: 29 ff. (ff. 14-28 blank) ; 145 x 70 mm.
      NLW MS 24030iiA: 3 ff.
      NLW MS 24030iA: Walker's Back-Loop pocket book, bound in pigskin and priced at 2 shillings.
  • Location
    • ARCH/MSS (GB0210)

Scope and Content

First World War diary of the poet and essayist Edward Thomas, 1 January-8 April 1917, containing descriptions of army life in England and France, observations on the natural world, and brief accounts of letters sent and received. It also contains the only known draft of Thomas's last poem, 'The sorrow of true love' (f. 29), dated 13 January 1917. The covers and leaves of the diary are heavily creased, suggesting that it may have been in Thomas's pocket when he was killed by a shell on the first day of the Battle of Arras on 9 April 1917. For an edited version of the diary's text, see The Collected Poems of Edward Thomas, ed. by R. George Thomas (Oxford, 1978), pp. 460-481. Three items found loose inside the diary's covers, including a draft of Thomas's poem, 'The Lane' [1916], have been filed as NLW MS 24030iiA.

Note

Title based on contents.

Preferred citation: NLW MS 24030i & iiA.

Alternative Form Available

Digital version available: http://hdl.handle.net/10107/4683217 (viewed April 2017)

Archivist's Note

October 2013.

Description compiled by Geraint Phillips

Appraisal Information

Action: digitized. Date: 2013. Institution: WlAbNL.

Additional Information

Published