David Jones papers

David Jones (1895-1974) was an accomplished artist who produced watercolours, illustrations and inscriptions, and who also gained acclaim as a poet, especially as the author of In Parenthesis in 1937, and the long prose poem The Anathemata in 1952.

David Jones Papers

The David Jones Papers are at The National Library of Wales. Online catalogue now available.

The archive has been arranged at NLW into five groups:

• literary manuscripts, 1927-1981,
• correspondence, 1910-1985,
• material relating to his artistic works, 1821, 1900-1970,
• personalia, 1853-1976, 
• accumulated papers, 1892-1974

The archive comprises the literary manuscripts of David Jones, with manuscript drafts of

• In Parenthesis: seinnyessit e gledyf ym penn mameu,
• The Anathemata: fragments of an attempted writing,
• Epoch and Artist: selected writings by David Jones,
• The Sleeping Lord and other fragments,
• The Dying Gaul and other writings 
• The Roman quarry and other sequences

There is a substantial body of correspondence

• to David Jones from friends, editors and others, 1910-1976;
• draft letters from David Jones to friends, newspaper editors and others, 1929-1982;
• and letters by David Jones, 1919-1985, published in Dai Greatcoat: a self-portrait of David Jones in his letters.

There are some examples of David Jones' art and material relating to David Jones as an artist, as well as personal documents, financial papers, family papers, photographs, and accumulated research material.

Highlights from other collections at the National Library

There are numerous letters from David Jones to various people in the main National Library of Wales manuscript collection (NLW MSS) and also in the papers of numerous individuals held at the Library. See catalogue for further details.

The Library of David Jones

The Library of David Jones was deposited at The National Library of Wales in 1975, and was subsequently bought in 1978. For a complete list of the books see The Library of David Jones: A Catalogue by Huw Ceiriog Jones, (National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, 1995).

Photographs

Approximately 110 photographs of friends, family and places have been transferred to The National Collection of Welsh Photographs at NLW, (Llyfr ffoto 4302).

Pictures

The NLW holds some works of art by David Jones including 'Tir y Blaenau', 'Capel-y-ffin', 'Llys Ceimiad: La Bassée Front 1916', 'Beird Byt Barnant', 'Cloelia Cornelia', 'Cara Walia Derelicta', 'Pwy Yw'r Gŵr' and 'Optima Musa Veritas'. See catalogue for further details and digitised images.

Buy images online

Some David Jones cards and prints are on sale at the Library’s Online shop.

Recordings

Recordings of BBC radio programmes about David Jones, a tape of an interview 'David Jones: artist and writer', and a broadcast of In Parenthesis are available at the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales.