Edward Thomas
Edward Thomas (1878-1917), poet and writer, was born in Lambeth to Welsh-born parents on 3 March 1878. He was educated at St Paul's School, London, and Lincoln College, Oxford.
He was encouraged in his early literary ambitions by the critic James Ashcroft Noble, with his first book, The Woodland Life, appearing in 1897. Thomas married Noble's daughter Helen (1877-1967) in 1899, graduated from Lincoln College in 1900, then made his living writing literary reviews for the Daily Chronicle as well as essays, anthologies, guidebooks and folk-tales. He published further books, including The Heart of England (1906), The Happy-Go-Lucky Morgans (1913), The Icknield Way (1913) and In Pursuit of Spring (1914) and biographies of several literary figures. It was only in 1914 that Thomas wrote his first 'real' poem; over the next two years he wrote over one hundred and forty.
In 1915 Thomas joined the Artists' Rifles, was commissioned second lieutenant in 1916 and volunteered for service overseas. He was killed in action on 9 April 1917 during the battle of Arras. His Poems (1917), Last Poems (1918) and Collected Poems (1920) therefore all appeared posthumously. His wife Helen wrote of their time together in As It Was (1926) and World Without End (1931).
Edward and Helen Thomas Manuscripts
This is the main group of Edward Thomas papers at the National Library of Wales. It comprises 28 volumes and includes Edward Thomas' diaries, 1895-1917 (including the final War Diary); correspondence of Edward and Helen, 1896-1917; correspondence of Edward with his father-in-law James Ashcroft Noble, 1896-1917; some prose works, 1906-1912; and autograph drafts of poems, 1914-1917, all of which were published in The Collected Poems of Edward Thomas, ed. by R. George Thomas (Oxford, 1978).
The Catalogue is available to view online. However, NLW MSS 22900-21 and 23077C are described more fully in the original schedule Edward & Helen Thomas Manuscripts (1993), and are indexed in greater detail in the Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume 9 (Aberystwyth, 2003). Both volumes are available to view in the Reading Room at the Library.
Other Manuscripts
For other papers of Edward Thomas see:
- Letter to a Mr Bullen, 1909 (NLW MS 16098E, f. 400)
- Letter to the Rev. John Jenkins (Gwili), 1901 (NLW MS 21818E, f. 47)
- Seven letters to the literary agent J. B. Pinker, 1901-1912 (NLW MS 22003E, ff. 83-89)
- Twelve letters to Sir O. M. Edwards, 1900-1902 (NLW MS 23222B)
- Letter from W. H. Davies to Edward Thomas, 1907 (NLW MS 23806D, f. 78)
- Seventy-six letters to the Rev. Jesse Berridge, 1901-1917, etc. (NLW MS 23695E)
- Two letters to Thomas Seccombe, 1914 (NLW MS 23981E, ff. 60-61)
- Manuscript of the poem 'Cock-Crow' (NLW MS 23981E, f. 80)
- The Jack Haines Manuscripts, including manuscript drafts of the poems 'The Mountain Chapel', 'Birds' Nests' and 'House and Man', etc. (NLW MSS 24122-3)
- Letters to W. H. Hudson, 1906-1915 (Geoffrey Woolley Papers C1)
For other papers of Helen Thomas see:
Other papers at the Library relating to Edward Thomas include:
- Photocopies and transcripts of his letters to various recipients (R. George Thomas (Edward Thomas) Research Papers)
- Photocopies of 225 letters from Edward to Helen, now at Cardiff University (NLW Facs 759)
- Letters, 1917, to Thomas Seccombe from Eleanor Farjeon, John Freeman and Edward Garnett on the death of Edward Thomas (NLW MS 23981E, ff. 62-70)
- Three letters, 1917, to P. H. Thomas following the death of his son Edward (NLW MS 24044D, ff. 12-14)
- Papers, 1913-2011, of Julian Thomas, relating mostly to his brother Edward, with other family papers (NLW ex 2879)
- Papers of Geoffrey Woolley, including letters from Eleanor Farjeon, Myfanwy Thomas, Robert Eckert and James Guthrie, and a group of James Ashcroft Noble letters (Geoffrey Woolley papers C2, 4, 6, 8-9, 15)
Digital Gallery
A selection of the manuscripts have been digitised:
- The Heart of England (NLW MS 10617B)
- A Castle of Cloud (NLW MS 21750D)
- Fragments of journals, &c. (NLW MS 21859C)
- Diary, 1900-1901 (NLW MS 22900B)
- Diary, 1901-1902 (NLW MS 22901B)
- Diary, 1902-1904 (NLW MS 22902B)
- Diary entries, 1903-1911 (NLW MS 22913C)
- Letters to Helen Thomas, 1896-1900 (NLW MS 22914C)
- Letters to Helen Thomas, 1901-1913 (NLW MS 22915C)
- Letters to Helen Thomas, 1914 (NLW MS 22916C)
- Letters to Helen Thomas, 1916-1917 (NLW MS 22917C)
- Draft poems, 1914-1915 (NLW MS 22920A)
- Draft poems, 1916 (NLW MS 22821A)
- Poems, [1915x1917] (NLW MS 23077C)
- Letters to Sir O. M. Edwards (NLW MS 23222B)
- War Diary, 1917 (NLW MS 24030i & iiA)
- Poetry manuscript, 1914-[1915] (NLW MS 24122B)
- Letters and poems, [1903]-[1922] (NLW MS 24123D)
Further Reading