Raymond Williams Collection

Scope and Content

The collection consists of notebooks; manuscripts and typescripts of original, amended and final versions of novels, dramatic works, poetry and academic writings, as well as juvenilia; correspondence (letters re professional - academic and publishing - and family matters); TwentyOne (weekly paper of the 21st Anti-Tank Regiment); The University Journal (weekly paper of Cambridge University); published reviews, lectures and articles, including newspaper cuttings; research notes; photographs; family papers e.g. diaries, school reports, financial papers, property and probate; obituaries and letters of condolence; publications and journals

Subjects: culture, politics, communications, media, literature, drama, criticism, sociology, language, technology, history, war and 'The Bomb', class (particularly working class), education (particularly adult education: Open University, Workers' Educational Association), region and geography, Cambridge and academia

Majority in English, with a small number of documents (articles, publications and occasional letter) in other languages

For a biography of Raymond Williams see the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and 'Raymond Williams: A Warrior's Tale' by Dai Smith (2008)

Bibliographies of Raymond Williams' work can be found in 'Raymond Williams: Writing, Culture, Politics' by Alan O'Connor (1989) and 'A Bibliographical Guide to Twenty-Four Anglo-Welsh Writers' by John Harris (1994)

The Raymond Williams collection has been catalogued courtesy of funding from the Barry Amiel & Norman Melburn Trust.

Administrative / Biographical History

Raymond Williams, Joy Williams, Merryn Williams, Dai Smith

Access Information

Access to some types of information may be restricted under the terms of the Data Protection Act.

Acquisition Information

via Dai Smith

Other Finding Aids

Catalogue and former provisional box list

Appraisal Information

Removal of duplicates of some journals and published works

Custodial History

Documents were located with Raymond and Joy Williams, Merryn Williams, then with Dai Smith

Accruals

Further accruals to this collection are possible but not expected

Location of Originals

Items photocopied from collections held at National Library of Wales, BBC Archive, Reading University, Abergavenny Grammar School and elsewhere

Bibliography

'Raymond Williams: A Warrior's Tale' by Dai Smith (2008)