Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [?1624] (Creation)
Level of description
File
Extent and medium
52 ff. (ff. 1-6 verso, 7 verso-8, 44 verso-52 verso blank except for marginal rulings) ; 180 x 150 mm.
Contemporary limp vellum; crest of William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, stamped in gold on front and back covers; 'Lds Pembrock' (ink on front cover); gilded page edges.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Name of creator
Biographical history
George Owen (1552-1613), antiquary, was born at Henllys, near Newport, Pembrokeshire. His most important work, The Description of Penbrokshire, was begun in December 1602.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Christie's; London; Purchased at auction, lot 29; 1 December 2015; 99632236002419.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
'A catalogue of all the Earles of Penbroke that have been sythence the Conquest in order as they succeeded…', a volume of genealogy compiled, [?1624], in the hand of the herald George Owen the younger (1595-1665), based on the work of his father George Owen of Henllys (1552-1613), and presented to their kinsman William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke.
George Owen the elder's original intention was to catalogue the earls 'with their proper coat armour' and his son's stated aim (f. 9 recto-verso) was to complete his father's work. The main text (ff. 11-15 and 16-44 rectos only) is mostly that of George Owen of Henllys's 'Catalogue of all the Earles of Penbroke' (1601x1603) (later incorporated by him into chapter 2 of the Description of Pembrokeshire: see George Owen of Henllys, The Description of Penbrokshire, ed. by Henry Owen, 4 vols (London, 1892-1936), I (1892), 14-33; and B. G. Charles, George Owen of Henllys: A Welsh Elizabethan (Aberystwyth, 1973), pp. 160-1). The final two paragraphs (ff. 42, 43, 44), relating to the second and third earls, continue the narrative to about 1624 and were presumably written by George Owen the younger. Each section begins with a decorated initial of varying height. The pedigree, by George Owen the younger (ff. 15 verso-43 verso, versos only), runs in parallel with the main text and traces the descent of William Herbert, in relation to the Earls of Pembroke of the various previous creations only. It is arranged in two columns, with the earls represented in the left hand column and other family shown on the right, and includes fifty-eight coats of arms, fully emblazoned and painted. Also included is the full armorial achievement of William Herbert (f. 8 verso) and the scribe's dedicatory address to Herbert (ff. 9-10). There are marginal notes in pencil, [?19 cent.], on ff. 8 verso and 9 verso (erased). For George Owen the younger see H. Stanford Owen, 'George Owen, York Herald 1633-1663', Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1943 and 1944 [1946], 78-107.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Usual copyright laws apply.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
English.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Affected by dirt.
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Original title.
Alternative identifier(s)
Alma system control number
Access points
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Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Description follows NLW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.; AACR2; and LCSH
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
February 2017
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
Description compiled by Rhys M. Jones.