ORIGINAL handwritten letter penned by Dylan Thomas to Mr. Hermann Peschmann.
Blashford, England. “n.d. [c. 1937]”.
First Edition. Original one-page handwritten letter by Dylan Thomas, penned in fountain pen to the poet and editor Hermann Peschmann. Written while Thomas and his wife Caitlin were living in Blashford, near Ringwood, during their six-month stay (October 1937–April 1938).
Text (approx. 4.5 x 7 in.):
"Dear Mr. Peschmann,
Thank you for writing. I hope that a reading of poems, with little or no explanatory or introductory talk, will be suitable. I’d like to read some of my own recent poems, some of Auden, Ransome, and Prokosch. And a few examples, in English of course, of the work that young Welsh writers are doing today. But, anyway, do let me know.
Yours sincerely,
Dylan Thomas"
Presentation:
Beautifully framed together with an iconic photographic copy of Thomas seated in his office smoking a cigarette. Frame size: 20" x 22". Mounted photograph: 12.5" x 17" ready to hang.
In Blashford, Thomas drafted and revised a number of poems.
Hermann Peschmann was active in London literary circles in the late 1930s. A German-born poet and editor, he settled in Britain and organized poetry readings, recitals, and discussion evenings with émigré and younger English writers. Archival correspondence shows that in autumn 1937 Thomas and Peschmann arranged for Thomas to appear at one of these gatherings. In the present letter Thomas proposes reading his own poems alongside works by W. H. Auden, Arthur Ransome, Frederic Prokosch, and contemporary Welsh poets. A follow-up letter (21 November 1937, printed in The Collected Letters of Dylan Thomas, ed. Paul Ferris) confirms Thomas’s participation, suggesting Peschmann’s invitations were for public literary evenings in London.*
The Collected Letters of Dylan Thomas, ed. Paul Ferris (London: Dent, 1985; rev. ed. 2000), pp. 306–307, for Thomas’s subsequent letter to Peschmann dated 21 November 1937.
An evocative and scarce autograph letter from the young Thomas revealing his reading preferences at the very moment his career was gathering pace.
Item #34192 Price: US$7,000.00