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Delivering the work
The Dorothy Bonarjee Archive
The National Library recently received a manuscript containingpoems by an Indian poet called Dorothy Noel ‘Dorf’ Bonarjee (1894–1983). She was born in Bareilly near Delhi in northern India, but at the age of ten she and her family moved to London for the children's education, and ‘Dorf’ studied at the Dulwich High School for Girls, before choosing to study French at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1912. She won the college Eisteddfod chair in 1914 with a lyrical ode to Owain Lawgoch (a 14th century Welsh soldier) under the pseudonym ‘Shita’. At the age of 19, Dorothy Bonarjee was the first woman, and the first foreign student, to win the Aberystwyth University Eisteddfod Chair competition.
She kept a collection of her verses in a black notebook which she left in her will to her niece Sheila Bonerjee, and this notebook is the basis for publishing her collection of poetry this year. The recent publication by Honno press gives us the opportunity to read some of her poems for the first time. See The Hindu bard: The poetry of Dorothy ‘Dorf’ Bonarjee edited with introductions by Mohini Gupta and Andrew Whitehead (Welsh Women’s Classics – Honno, 2023). Or you can read more about her in a new article in the online Dictionary of Welsh Biography.
The archive that came with the manuscript sheds new light on her life, and as well as the black book of poetry it contains photographs, family papers, and letters. It is a privilege for the Library to take care of the Dorothy Bonarjee Papers among our national treasures.
Decolonising the National Art Collection
In-line with the Welsh Government’s Anti-racist Wales Action Plan and as part of the National Library of Wales’ Anti-racist Project, the Library has commissioned four new artworks inspired by the Library’s collections, and in response to the difficult and challenging times in our history.
A portrait of writer, poet and playwright Eric Ngalle Charles created by Joshua Donkor was a valuable addition to the 15,000 items in the Library’s portrait archive.
Jasmine Violet based her work on a drawing and maps in the Library’s collections that portrayed sugar plantations in 18th century Jamaica with a Welsh connection.
Mfiklea Jean Samuel looked at how maps influence the way we look at the world, and drew inspiration from a map of British colonial possessions in West Africa in the late 1940s, circulated by the British Government’s Central Intelligence Office.
Dr Adéọlá Dewis focused on the links between the Mari Lwyd tradition and the Jonkonnu festival in Jamaica, using the Library’s graphic collections as a starting point.
Recent additions to the art collection
Other additions to our collection included the Blodeuwedd sculpture by Natalia Dias and the Sitelines film by Seán Vicary, both winners of the Gold Medal at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in Ceredigion. The Library was delighted to be invited by the National Eisteddfod and CASW (Contemporary Art Society of Wales), to select the winners of the annual CASW award and to receive a monetary donation in order to purchase these works for the National Art Collection.
Other examples of works added to our National Art Collection this year were the 2 works created by contemporary artist Bedwyr Williams during the pandemic in 2020, a portrait of writer and activist Angharad Tomos by Luned Rhys Parri, and a series of powerful paintings based on the Mari Lwyd by Cive Hicks-Jenkins. Another important work which was added to our collections was the embroidery piece by Anya Painstil. With roots in Ghana and Wales, her work focusses on race and gender.
The National Contemporary Art Gallery for Wales
During 2022-23 the National Library has worked in collaboration with its partners at Museum Wales and the Welsh Arts Council to establish a Contemporary Art Gallery for Wales. The need for showcasing contemporary Welsh art, supporting emerging artists, and providing educational and cultural programmes has been recognised by the Library for a very long time, and this initiative by Welsh Government with the support of Plaid Cymru is a positive and important step forward in achieving those goals. Ensuring that the gallery is inclusive and accessible to people of all backgrounds and abilities is crucial and we look forward to work with partners on initiatives to make the gallery – in its various locations – a welcoming and diverse space.
Rare printed books
Highlights of printed material added to the Library’s collections in 2022-2023 include the extremely rare volume A briefe and short instruction of the art of musike by Elway Bevin (1631) and also the 1908 edition of the French poem The romonaut of the rose.
A briefe and short instruction of the art of musicke 1631 was purchased in May 2022. The author, Elway Bevin was of Welsh heritage according to the antiquary Anthony Wood. He served as choirmaster and organist in Wells Cathedral, before being appointed as a member of the choir of the Chapel Royal through the influence of Godfrey Goodman, Bishop of Gloucester; there are a number of books and papers relating to the Goodman family already in the Library. This is a rare publication, of which only three other copies are known to exist in libraries in the United Kingdom.
An opportunity to add to the Library’s collection of the French poem The romaunt of the rose presented itself in November 2022. The Library has by now 24 editions of this French poem published before 1550, which were acquired a century ago as part of the collection of Francis William Bourdillon. This addition to the collection is an English translation by Chaucer, published by the Florence Press as a limited edition of 12 copies on vellum with coloured illustrations in a pre-Raphaelite style.