Gregynog Press & The Davies Sisters

Lot 264

POEMS BY HENRY VAUGHAN 1924 limited edition (112/500), printed by Robert Ashwin Maynard at Gregynog

£100-150

The early aims of the press were to champion Welsh literature and the Welsh language, through from the 1930s the scope of the press' output was more varied.

Lot 277

THE PLAYS OF EURIPIDES 1931, limited edition (18/500) translated by Gilbert Murray

£1,800-2,500

browse / bid

Lot 275

JOINVILLE'S HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS 1937, limited edition (18/200) translated by Joan Evans

£700-1,000

browse / bid

Under the Davies sisters, Gregynog became a major centre for music, attracting visitors such as Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Gustav Holst. Their love of music ran so deep that it even appeared in their job advertisements: “Gardener wanted, tenor preferred.”

Holst visited Gregynog during the first Gregynog Festival of Music and Poetry (1933–39) and was so impressed by the choir’s singing that he composed the choral work For Gregynog, later known as O Spiritual Pilgrim. This would be his final choral composition; he died less than a year later.

Lot 278

Collection of Gregynog Festival programmes, including National Council of Music Annual Conference at Gregynog 1933, On the Morning of Christs Nativity by John Milton, Festival of Music and Poetry 1933, A Concert 1932, The Gregynog Festival 1958, A Concert of Chamber and Vocal Music 1931, Congress of the Guild for the Promotion of Welsh Music etc

£300-400

browse / bid

The Gregynog Press wound up operations in 1940, with the Second World War gutting the press of its staff. It would remain dormant during the remainder Gwendoline and Margaret's lifetimes, being revived in 1975 with funding from the University of Wales and Welsh Arts Council as Gwasg Gregynog.