Introduction
Llewelyn Powys (1884-1939) was primarily a writer of essays, which ranged from local and natural history to biography, philosophy and religion. He also wrote books on philosophical and religious subjects, autobiographical memoirs, one novel and one full-length biography (of Henry Hudson the explorer). Several of his books are difficult to classify; for example his last book that was not a collection, Love and Death (1939), he called 'an imaginary autobiography', though others might catagorise it as a novel. These difficulties of classification and the way in which that has militated against a just appreciation of Llewelyn Powys is discussed by Professor Charles Lock in his biographical assessment for the Gale Dictionary of Literary Biography (1990). Identifying Powys as a 'miscellaneous writer', he finds that it is 'hard to gain a reliable impression of the entire body of his writing': 'The paucity of our equipment for evaluating nonfictional prose is a further obstacle to the appreciation of his work.' I also tackled this problem in the Introduction to my own book A Study of Llewelyn Powys: His Literary Achievement and Personal Philosophy (1991), abbreviated in this work to 'Foss', which in addition provided the most comprehensive bibliographical check list so far available in published form. That book, which was the culmination of a doctoral thesis on Llewelyn Powys undertaken in 1980, was chiefly a description of the origins and development of his thought, and as such made a break from much of the past consideration of this writer which was largely biographical.
An account of Llewelyn Powys's life is of course not within the remit of the present work, though readers new to him are referred to the autobiographical memoir which Powys provided in 1938 for the American publication Twentieth Century Authors (1942), and which is quoted in full in Item H21. In fact, Llewelyn Powys has been well-served as to biography. Not only did he write about himself and his life (in an unselfconscious and endearing way), but that life and personality formed the basis of a number of books by others published in his lifetime - those such as Swan's Milk (1934) and Welsh Ambassadors (1936) by Louis Wilkinson and The Powys Brothers (1935) by Richard Heron Ward. There were also, again during his lifetime, many biographical appreciations and other articles which discussed his life and writings in company with those of his brothers, not least the early and significant essay, 'Four Brothers: A Family Confession' by John Cowper Powys published in the Century Magazine, September 1925.
Furthermore, unlike his brothers, Llewelyn Powys benefited from having an 'official' biography written about him by a professional biographer, Malcolm Elwin: The Life of Llewelyn Powys (1946). This work, whilst of necessity incomplete (by reason of sensitivity to persons then living, which is acknowledged by the author) - and whilst also hagiographical in tone - is nevertheless the most important source book for Powys's life, and in its detail is remarkably accurate and thorough. Elwin's Life is cited extensively in the current work for facts about his publications (abbreviated here to 'Elwin'), as is also the early compilation of letters (though nowhere near comprehensive), The Letters of Llewelyn Powys of 1943 (abbreviated here to Letters), which remains significant for the detail it affords concerning circumstances of composition and publication of many of the works. I have also made use of additional information in Kenneth Hopkins's The Powys Brothers (London: Phoenix House, 1967), abbreviated here to 'Hopkins', and in Richard Perceval Graves's The Brothers Powys (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983), abbreviated here to 'Graves'. In more recent years there has been a growing body of letters published of John Cowper Powys, Llewelyn Powys's eldest brother, and these provide again important information that I have made use of, in particular the two volumes, Letters to His Brother Llewelyn, published by the Village Press in 1975 and [1982] (abbreviated to JCP to LlP). It is an interesting fact, however, that whilst substantial volumes have been devoted to the biography of Llewelyn Powys, nothing has been accomplished towards listing and classifying his works, a fact which I myself found problematic when working on a thesis, which in normal circumstances would evolve out of an established and recognised canon. Substantial bibliographies exist for the two other Powys author-brothers; first for Theodore Francis Powys, in Peter Riley's A Bibliography of T. F. Powys (Hastings: R. A. Brimmell, 1967) - mainly a description of the first editions - and for John Cowper Powys in Derek Langridge's John Cowper Powys: A Record of Achievement (London: The Library Association, 1966) and Dante
Thomas's A Bibliography of the Writings of John Cowper Powys (Mamaroneck,
New York: Paul P. Appel, 1975).
A Bibliography of the writings of Llewelyn Powys was first attempted by Lloyd Emerson Siberell, a book collector and bibliophile of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, in 1935. In that year Siberell was asked by Llewelyn Powys to help him with (in effect provide) a bibliographical check list of his first editions for an Appendix in Louis Wilkinson's forthcoming book on the Powys brothers, Welsh Ambassadors. Siberell obliged, supplying on pages 265-8, what was the first printed description of Llewelyn Powys's books to that date - all first and only editions (twenty-two in all). This formed the basis of several other check lists that followed, most notably those in Malcolm Elwin's Life, and in Kenneth Hopkins's The Powys Brothers (1967). Siberell's first check list was augmented and enlarged with more detailed descriptions of the editions in his 'Bibliographical Checklist of the First Editions of Llewelyn Powys' published in The Book-Collector's Packet of March 1939 (where Alyse Gregory, Llewelyn Powys's wife, supplied an Introduction).
However, quite apart from Siberell's interest in the Llewelyn Powys first editions, it is clear from the papers still extant in the Siberell archive at Ohio State University that between 1935 and 1940 Lloyd Emerson Siberell worked on compiling lists of Llewelyn Powys's miscellaneous publications in magazines, periodicals and newspapers. These lists presumably he hoped one day would form the basis of a fuller bibliography, which in the event he was not able to complete. Siberell wrote to the editors of many of these periodicals and magazines requesting information from their card indexes and files. He also wrote letters to the editorial and business departments of all Llewelyn Powys's book publishers, requesting similar information, and was thus supplied with many publication details, such as issue dates, further impressions, and print-runs which it would be difficult now to collect. With the help of Melvon L. Ankeny and the Reference Department of the Ohio State University Library I have been able to make use of Siberell's lists and rough notes and have incorporated into this Bibliography the important information he gathered. (See especially M. L. Ankeny's article, 'Lloyd Emerson Siberell, Powys ''Bibliomaniac'' and ''Extravagantic'' ', Powys Journal VI (1996), pp.7-61.)
As with other of his 'extravagantic' projects, Lloyd Emerson Siberell was not able to follow through his work on a fuller bibliography, although later there were others who were interested in attempting one (letter to the Times Literary Supplement, 31 October 1958). It was not until the 1960s, however, that another serious attempt was made. In 1962 Mrs Margaret Eaton, a bookseller of Holland Park Avenue, London, started from scratch a more systematic bibliography based upon the Soho Bibliographies model, and made contact with many publishers, editors and booksellers - and with members of the Powys family - to gather information towards the task. Mrs Eaton was also in contact with Lloyd Emerson Siberell (who died in 1968), but as far as can be made out, she did not have access to Siberell's lists. Mrs Eaton continued compiling her bibliography piecemeal into the 1980s, making card indexes and cross-referencing items under periodical and contribution titles. In 1988 Mrs Eaton relinquished the work and gave all the material she had collected to the present author; and I in turn double-checked her material, made substantial additions to it, and more recently with the help of a number of other sources, have been able to bring the project to fruition.
What makes a Bibliography of Llewelyn Powys a particularly formidable task is that Powys, in addition to being the author of twenty-six books in his lifetime, a number of which came out in special and costly editions, was also a prolific contributor to newspapers and periodicals in both Britain and America between 1920 and his death in 1939. He also made a small living in the 1920s out of book reviewing, and many of these reviews and short notices were anonymous. In addition to this many of his articles and occasional pieces were republished in other magazines, anthologies and digests, and these sometimes under different titles. Llewelyn Powys himself kept no systematic list of his own productions and to track some of these down has proved to be the work of several decades. The task was well summed up by Alyse Gregory in a letter of June 1964 to Mrs Eaton, where she described the task of compiling a Bibliography as a 'reckless enterprise . . . complicated, elusive, exciting, frustrating and challenging . . . requiring the cunning of the sleuth, the patience of the fisherman and the pugnacity of a Mr Kruschev.'
One of the fortunate survivals discovered quite early on (when researching my own study of Llewelyn Powys between 1980 and 1983) were several collections of cuttings kept by Llewelyn Powys (and his wife and sisters), which provided an invaluable record of many of his periodical and newspaper contributions. These passed into the hands of Mr E. E. Bissell of Ashorne, Warwickshire, and remained in his collection (where I first studied them) until their removal, partly through my own initiative, to The Powys Society's own Collection at the Dorset County Museum, Dorchester. During those contacts I had occasion to examine and make copies of many items relevant to a bibliography. Mr Bissell also provided invaluable help towards the compilation of this Bibliography during the early 1990s, when I checked details of first editions against his own comprehensive collection (many of which were Powys-owned, or Powys-presentation, copies). Thus all the Bissell material is fully incorporated into this Bibliography. I have also made use of several other excellent collections of material and books, in particular those of Griffin Beale, Francis Feather, Frank Kibblewhite, Stephen Powys Marks and Shelagh Powys Hancox, some containing family or presentation copies of books. In this way it has been possible to check variations in editions, dust-jackets, covers or anomalies in printing.
The Bibliography is arranged in two parts, the first part (PART ONE) providing a complete description and collation of the early editions of Llewelyn Powys's books, and the second part (PART TWO) devoted to a chronological list of his miscellaneous contributions both to books and periodicals. Also in this part is a list of articles and books in which Llewelyn Powys receives a mention (up to 120 items). I have also incorporated Obituaries and Tributes into this section.
In PART ONE I have made mention of all editions, including foreign translations, but the descriptions are only confined to first editions or special early editions. Among these I have included the variant 1938 edition of Glory of Life of 1934 and the misdated Harcourt, Brace 1925 edition of Ebony and Ivory, which was in effect a republication of the first edition when Harcourt, Brace & Co. took over the rights from the American Library Service in 1925. This book had 'first edition 1923' printed inside it, and is frequently still mistaken for the first edition. Incorporated with these descriptions I have included as much information as I could gather on the bibliographical and compositional history of the books. Much of this comes from Malcolm Elwin's Life of Llewelyn Powys (1946) or from his published letters, The Letters of Llewelyn Powys (1943), or those of his brother John Cowper Powys (Letters to His Brother Llewelyn, 1975, [1982]). The arrangement of the descriptions will be made apparent on examination. I first provide title-page, pagination and book size, and then describe the binding and the dustjacket. There is then a collation of pages and a list of contents. Where variants exist I follow the description by a Note (N.B.). The next section gives date of issue, print-run and publication price, followed by further description of the circumstances of composition and publication. I am particularly interested also in providing a picture of the development of Llewelyn Powys's reputation based upon the reception accorded to his published books. I therefore cite a selection of reviews, and quote from those that present the most intelligent or informative opinion. Obviously this is a matter of judgement, but I have tried to give a just view of the opinion of the time. I have endeavoured, for example, to cite antipathetical reviews as well as sympathetic ones, and where the general opinion of the book was more negative than positive I have tried to quote from the most telling of the criticisms. Nevertheless, I think it is correct to say that Llewelyn Powys's books met with serious consideration and considerable appreciation among reputable critics and men-of-letters at the time, particularly in America in the 1920s, although one finds a growing polarity of opinion among critics and reviewers in England in the late 1930s.
One of the characteristics of Llewelyn Powys's books, as has already been explained, is that many of them were actually collections of previously published material. This presents a problem for a bibliographer in that one is obliged to cross-reference each published item as between its original appearance and its book appearance. I have thought best to omit reference to the first publication of each individual essay or chapter in the description of the books in PART ONE, in favour of cross-referencing the various appearances in PART TWO of the Bibliography. The Index, in fact, is the key to this formula; in that every variant in the name of each item is included with all references. Each individual book's contents described in PART ONE can therefore be referenced via the Index to any first appearance, which is covered in PART TWO. For one thing, this avoids unnecessary repetition of information, although having said that there are occasions when extracts from the books specifically are reprinted in another place, such as an anthology; and this is referenced at the end of the book descriptions in PART ONE, where I have also included information about extant manuscripts.
PART TWO of the Bibliography consists of a chronological list of material divided into four sections. The longest of these is the 'Contributions to Periodicals and Newspapers' (over 400 items). Here the arrangement is simple. I give first the place of publication with volume, number, date and page reference. This is followed by any further reprintings in magazines or anthologies, and a description thereof. If applicable, in round brackets at the end of the paragraph will be found the page reference to the item as republished in one or more of Llewelyn Powys's books or collections (numberings given for the first edition, or the first English edition in the case of A Baker's Dozen). In many instances the same essay appears under different titles - sometimes only subtly different as in 'Herring Gulls' and 'Herring Gulls in Winter', or sometimes vastly different such as 'Hidden Reaches' (1936), republished in Somerset Essays as 'Witcombe Bottoms' (1937) and then reprinted in The Shooting Man's Bedside Book as 'The Sporting Dairymen of Sedgemoor' (1948). All variants are explained in PART TWO and their variant titles given separately in the Index. Furthermore, in many cases, the extant manuscript also gives another variant on the title of items. Where known the MS reference and location have been included after a bullet-point (with 'HRHRC' standing for the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at Austin, Texas, and 'Bissell' for the Bissell Gift in The Powys Society Collection at the Dorset County Museum, Dorchester). I also supply a number reference from the Catalogue of the Llewelyn Powys Manuscripts which George Sims published in 1953 at the time of the sale of the MS collection then in the possession of Powys's widow Alyse Gregory. This number reference includes the section in the Catalogue (in Roman numerals) and the number of the MS. Where there is a discrepancy between Sims's number and that on the MS as I have seen it, I give the corrected number in round brackets. For further details on this the reader is referred to the author's two articles, 'An Inventory of the Llewelyn Powys Holdings: Manuscripts of Works', Part One in Powys Journal XIII (2003), Part Two in Powys Journal XIV (2004).
In many instances an essay may have been shortened or altered on republication, in which case I have noted the change if significant. In other cases two essays might bear the same or a similar title or be about the same subject, but are substantially different. This is so with the essays on the Duke of Monmouth, for example, from 1936. In the case of 'Threnody' (1923), 'A Threnody' (1935) and 'Threnody' (1936), Llewelyn Powys did in fact write three quite different pieces with the same title. The reader can be assured that I have read all versions of all the works and any such differences have been noted.
PART TWO also includes a section on Llewelyn Powys's reviews and notices, of which there were many that were anonymous, most of these under the 'Briefer Mention' section of the Dial. I have included full details of those that can currently be found, but I have no doubt there are others. This Bibliography does not pretend to be a hundred per cent complete (what bibliography is?); although, as well as being the first definitive Bibliography of Llewelyn Powys, I believe it will be found to include the overwhelming majority of his published writings. The search for elusive items, however, will go on and the compiler of this Bibliography would be most grateful for any further references that may come to light.
Finally, I would like to extend my thanks to those who have helped over the years to make the compilation of this Bibliography possible. In the first instance, we owe a great deal to Lloyd Emerson Siberell and to Mrs Margaret Eaton, for their valuable contribution to the present state of knowledge. In addition mention should be made of Melvon L. Ankeny, Louise de Bruin, E. E. Bissell, Griffin Beale, Francis Feather, Shelagh Powys Hancox, Anthony Head, Jeff Kwintner, Charles Lock, J. Lawrence Mitchell, Stephen Powys Marks, Susan Rands, Christopher Wilkinson, and Gordon Webster (for his photographs). I would also like to thank the Director and staff of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, Austin, Texas (where I spent a one-month Research Fellowship in 2002), and the Director and Trustees of the Dorset County Museum, Dorchester, where The Powys Society houses its own extensive collection of Powys manuscripts and books.
Peter J. Foss
Gloucester
2007