Thomas Dilworth Papers

A longtime English professor at Windsor University in Ontario, Canada, where he is a Killam Fellow, Thomas Dilworth is an expert on the life and works of David Jones. Dilworth authored "The Shape of Meaning in the Poetry of David Jones." Also, he edited "Inner Necessities: the Letters of David Jones to Desmond Chute." Furthermore, Dilworth wrote introductions and afterwords for bilingual editions of "The Anathemata," "The Sleeping Lord," and Jones' "Rime of the Ancient Mariner." He is at work on a biography of David Jones.

David Jones (1895-1974) was born in Brockley, south-east London. When he was 14, he began studying at the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts. Jones served four years in World War I as a private with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. In 1921, he entered the Catholic Church. Soon thereafter he became a friend of the sculptor Eric Gil and the historian Christopher Dawson. He became one of the most prominent engravers and painters in England. His first poem, "In Parenthesis" appeared in 1937. He published "The Anathemata" in 1952. Jones continued to paint during this time, producing "Aphrodite in Aulis" in 1940. In 1974, "The Sleeping Lord," a collection of his shorter poems, was published.

Author and friend of David Jones, Harman Grisewood (1906-1997) was born on February 8, 1906 in Broxbourne, England. Grisewood attended Ampleforth College in Yorkshire, as did his friend Rene Hague. He received his university degree from Worcester College, Oxford in 1927. Grisewood began working for the BBC in 1929. Between 1933 and 1936, he was an announcer. By 1939, he became assistant director of program planning. From 1941 to 1945, Grisewood served as controller of the European Division. In 1947, he became planner of the Third Programme, and he became controller of that program in 1948. Between 1952 and 1955 he was director of the Spoken Word. From 1955 to 1964, Grisewood was chief assistant to the director general. Grisewood edited the following works by David Jones: "Epoch and Artist Selected Writings" (1959), "The Dying Gaul and Other Writings" (1978), and "The Roman Quarry and Other Sequences" (1981). Harman Grisewood died in 1997.

Rene Hague (1905-1981) was born in 1905 in London. He attended Ampleforth College, Yorkshire. Hague won a scholarship to Oxford, but in 1924 he went to live at Capel-y-ffin with Father Joseph Woodford, OSB. In August 1924, Eric Gill arrived with his family in Capel-y-ffin. Hague met David Jones at Capel, and Hague fell in love with Gill's daughter, Joan. From 1924 to 1929, Hague worked in George Coldwell's second-hand bookshop in London. Hague became an active member of David Jones' circle. In 1930, Hague established Pigotts Press with Gill. He married Joan Gill and they lived at Pigotts until 1963. The couple lived in Shanagarry, Cork, Ireland until the early 1980s. Rene Hague died on January 19, 1981.