Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [1764x1825] / (Creation)
Level of description
File
Extent and medium
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Evan Evans (Ieuan Fardd or Ieuan Brydydd Hir, 1731-1788), scholar, poet and critic, was born in the parish of Lledrod, Cardiganshire. Even before he entered Merton College, Oxford, in 1750 Evans had made the acquaintance of such prominent literary and antiquarian figures as the Morris brothers - Lewis, Richard and William - of Anglesey, William Wynn of Llangynhafal and Goronwy Owen. Throughout his clerical career - he was ordained in 1755 - Evans would spend much of his time collecting and copying Welsh manuscripts of literary and historical interest, including poetry from the Red Book of Hergest, all the while making contact with others engaged in the same pursuit such as David Jones of Trefriw, Rhys Jones of Blaenau and John Powel of Llansannan, as well as English antiquaries such as Daines Barrington. In 1764 Evans published his seminal work Some specimens of the Poetry of the Antient Welsh Bards, in which he attempted to interpret the substantial output of Welsh poetry, much of it produced at court, from the sixth to the sixteenth century. Arguably the greatest Welsh scholar of his age, Evans possessed an in-depth knowledge of the contents of Welsh manuscripts in the various private libraries of the time and was well acquainted with the works of the great Welsh scholars from the Renaissance onwards. He realised that the chief requirement of Welsh scholarship in his day and age was the publication of the texts of the principal manuscripts which related to the history and literature of Wales. Although Evans himself ultimately failed in his endeavours to achieve this goal, the brilliant work he did accomplish earned him a position of unquestioned importance within the field of Welsh scholarship.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Copies of Some Specimens of the Poetry of the Antient Welsh Bards translated into English ... (London,1764) and The Love of Our Country, A Poem ... (Carmarthen, 1772), both of them by Evan Evans ('Ieuan Brydydd Hir'), and four letters, 1768-1787, from him to Thomas Pennant; a letter from Robert Williams (Rhydycroesau) to David Pennant; and prospectuses of printed publications by Evan Evans, Robert Williams, Thomas Lloyd Jones ('Gwenffrwd'), etc.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
English, Latin, Welsh.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
The contents of NLW MSS 328-4279 are indexed in greater detail in Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, vol. 1 (Aberystwyth, 1943).
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Formerly known as Pennant 75.
Note
Preferred citation: NLW MS 2595C.
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
GEAC system control number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Evans, Evan, 1731-1788 -- Correspondence. (Subject)
- Williams, Robert, 1810-1881 (Subject)
- Jones, Thomas Lloyd, 1810-1834 (Subject)
- Pennant, Thomas, 1726-1798 -- Correspondence (Subject)