Welsh poet (1914-1953). 2 autograph letters signed ("Dylan"). 39 Markham Square (London), and Holywell Ford, Oxford, and. Small 4to and 8vo. Altogether 2¾ pp. on 3 ff.
$ 7,979 / 7.500 €
(33623/BN29115)
To the English journalist and author John Arlott (1914-1991), the first on two poems for a possible broadcast on the BBC, expressing concern about reading both ("[...] they're very much alike in feeling and would give a monotonous effect - even if a reader read one of them and I the other [...] I suggest that only Poem In October is selected [...]", undated), the second inviting Arlott to lunch and admitting he had already told the host, his patron Margaret Taylor, that Arlott would attend, also mentioning that "I hope you get this note before you go Test-wards" (July 22, 1946). - Edges slightly frayed.
Welsh poet (1914-1953). Autograph letter signed ("Dylan Thomas"). Laugharne. 08.05.1949. Small 4to. 1 p.
$ 4,787 / 4.500 €
(47592/BN32254)
To E. J. Evans of Skewen (unnamed), secretary of the Port Talbot Forum, in favour of a pension to be awarded to the Welsh poet Huw Menai (i.e., Huw Owen Williams, 1886-1961): "Dear Sir, Please forgive my not having answered your letter before this. I have just come back to Wales to live, & letters have been misforwarded. I shall be most grateful if you will include my name in the list of those who are supporting the appeal to the Prime Minister for a Civil List Pension to be awarded to Huw Menai.
I have the greatest admiration for him - though I do not know him personally - & for his work, & I think the Port Talbot Forum is to be congratulated in its sponsoring of the appeal - which I do most sincerely hope will succeed [...]". - In May 1948 Thomas and his family had moved to his final home, the Boat House at Laugharne purchased for him at a cost of £2,500 in April 1949. - Insignificant foxing; slight traces of mounting at upper corners..
Welsh poet and writer (1914-1953). Autograph letter signed. Boat House, Laughharne, Carmarhenshire. 15.07.1953. 8vo. ¾ p.
$ 7,979 / 7.500 €
(62306/BN45500)
"Dear Leslie Collier, Apologies. I was in America when you came to Carmarthen, that couldn't be helped. But I've been back a month now, and I haven't written to say how sorry I was to have missed you and how I hope, whenever you're next in this part, you'll come along and have drinks. No letters were forwarded when I was away, so unfortunately, I couldn't let you know; but I could have written much sooner than this. My only excuse is that I have been busy about the country ever since I returned; and that's a poor excuse, I know.
My wife also wants to apologise for not having seen you when you were down. Anyway, I shall look forward. Sincerely yours, Dylan Thomas". - A few light stains, and some mounting remnants on the verso, otherwise very fine. From the collection of Diana Herzog..
Welsh poet and writer (1914-1953). Autograph letter signed. Boat House, Laugharne, Carmarthenshire. 8vo. 1 page.
$ 10,106 / 9.500 €
(87383/BN57878)
To Kathleen Delvev, apologising for not writing sooner, as he has been away, thanking her but declining her invitation to speak at the Taunton Book Club: "Thank you for your invitation to come to the Taunton Book Club, but I'm afraid I won't be able to accept it as I shall be going to the States, fairly soon, I think, and don't know when I shall return: all my plans are in such a muddle at the moment [...]". - Thomas undertook four tours of America between 1950 and 1953. Here he writes in July 1953, fresh from his third visit, where he performed a "work in progress" version of Under Milk Wood, initially as a solo piece at Harvard and then at the Poetry Centre in New York with a full cast, when he gave his rewritten lines to the actors just minutes before the play began.
During this tour he also began his affair with Elizabeth Reitell, the assistant of poet John Brinnin. - The following months back home, when this letter was written, were characterised by heightening tensions with his wife Caitlin and his increasingly unpredictable behaviour, fuelled by a desperate need to escape his situation ("all my plans are in such a muddle"). Encouraged by promises of more performances at the Poetry Centre and a month collaborating with Stravinsky in California, he returned to New York in October - "to Reitell, and exhaustion. Drinking heavily, he became ill and intermittently deranged about the time of his thirty-ninth birthday at the end of the month. On 4 November a doctor unwisely sedated him by injecting half a grain of morphine, which was to prove fatal" (Paul Ferris, ODNB). - Kathleen Delves was the secretary of the Taunton Book Club in the 1950s and, on hearing Dylan Thomas was available for public engagements, she invited him to speak. His reply has been retained in the family until now. It is unpublished, not appearing in the Collected Letters (ed. Paul Ferris, 2000). - Some spotting..