London ( CNN ) -- A notebook full of work-in-progress versions of some of Dylan Thomas 's key poems has been rediscovered more than 70 years after the poet 's mother-in-law ordered it to be burnt . The book , in Thomas 's cramped , neat handwriting , includes 19 poems in varying states of completion , some with large sections scratched out and revised , and offers a valuable insight into his creative process . Hailed as a `` terrific discovery '' by one leading Thomas expert , the workbook is set to sell at auction for upwards of Â£100,000 ( $ 156,430 ) , capping off the writer 's centenary year and tantalizing poetry scholars around the world . Thomas , one of the leading poets of the 20th Century , is thought to have discarded the notebook during a stay at the home of his mother-in-law , Yvonne Macnamara , at some point in the late 1930s . Thomas and Macnamara did not get on , and he wrote to a friend of his dislike for both her and the place -- Blashford in Hampshire -- in southern England . `` This flat English country levels the intelligence , planes down the imagination , narrows the a 's , my ears belch up old wax and misremembered passages of misunderstood music , I sit and hate my mother-in-law , glowering at her from corners and grumbling about her in the sad , sticky , quiet of the lavatory . '' Macnamara gave the workbook to her maid , Louie King , and told her to dispose of it , but King opted to save it from the flames , and instead stashed it away for decades . A handwritten note from King on the cover explains : `` This Book of Poetry by Dylan Thomas was with a lot of papers given to me to burn in the kitchen boiler . I saved it and forgot all about it until I read of his death ... '' King died in 1984 , and the book has remained among her family 's possessions , hidden away in a drawer ever since , and unknown to Thomas scholars who pore over every other scrap of his work . John Goodby , the editor of Thomas 's `` Collected Poems , '' said the discovery was `` probably the most significant find since Thomas 's death in 1953 when various papers were bought up , and perhaps even since 1941 , when he sold some of his notebooks to the University at Buffalo . `` For some of the poems included , we 've never had manuscript versions before , and they show significant changes were made ; most of them are fair copies of finished poems , but some are more like worksheets -- they allow us to see how he arrived at a certain phrase , to see what he 's up to . '' All the works included eventually made it into print , some in his first collection , `` 18 Poems , '' in 1934 , and the rest in his second anthology , `` 25 Poems , '' in 1936 , which suggests the manuscript dates to a critical point in his life . `` At this particular period in his career , his works are like abstract paintings or music : everything is about the words , the language -- they 're not anecdotes or narratives , '' he explained , adding that Thomas had likely discarded the notebook because all the poems in it had been published : `` He 'd used it up . He was always leaving things behind . '' As literature fans in Thomas 's native Wales and around the world celebrate the centenary of his birth , the notebook is being put up for sale at Sotheby 's auction house in London in December , where it is expected to go under the hammer for between Â£100,000 and Â£150,000 ( $ 156,430 to $ 234,640 ) . Rosie Chester , of Sotheby 's , said that as a `` way of understanding Dylan Thomas 's writing process '' it was likely to appeal to anyone with a love of his work . `` It will be very exciting to see where it ends up , '' she told CNN . Goodby , professor of English language and literature at the University of Swansea ( Thomas 's hometown ) said major libraries and university collections around the world would love to own the book . `` Personally , I 'd like to see the National Library of Wales or the British Library put in a bid , to stop it from leaving the country , if possible , '' he said . The University at Buffalo , New York , and the Harry Ransom Center in Austin , Texas -- both already home to large Dylan Thomas collections -- may also take an interest , Goodby added . `` From my point of view the worst thing would be for it to end up in the hands of a private collector who locks it up in a bank vault for 50 years , '' he said , admitting he was desperate to get a closer look at the book after being given a sneak peek ahead of the sale . `` It was hard to keep my hands off it -- I just want to pore through it , to be able to read every word in his crabbed , backwards-sloping hand -- it is such a covetable object . '' Dylan Thomas was born in Swansea , south Wales , in 1914 ; he found fame with his `` play for voices , '' `` Under Milk Wood , '' and poems including `` Fern Hill '' and `` Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night . '' Thomas was also known for his hard-drinking lifestyle . He collapsed at New York 's Chelsea Hotel in 1953 , shortly after reportedly announcing : `` I 've had 18 straight whiskies . I think that 's the record ! '' and died in hospital several days later .
A long - lost notebook full of poems by Dylan Thomas is to be sold at auction . Book was discarded by Thomas and due to be burnt , but was saved by a friend . Manuscript containing working versions of some of the poet 's key works . Sale likely to attract interest , bids , from universities and libraries in UK , etc .