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Important mediæval manuscripts and later literary and historical manuscripts, [12 cent, first ½]-[late 19 cent.], reflecting the collecting interests of the Maurice and Owen families of Clenennau and Brogyntyn.
They include an important mid-fifteenth century miscellany of prose and verse in Middle English (Brogyntyn MS II.1); English and Welsh poetry; plays; astrology and prophecies; chronicles of the history of Britain, one of which is a thirteenth century version of Historia Regum Britanniæ of Geoffrey of Monmouth (Brogyntyn MS I.7); a lute book, [c. 1595] (Brogyntyn MS I.27); a copy of the laws of Hywel Dda [1625x1632] (Brogyntyn MS I.12); legal precedents and other papers of legal interest in Latin and English; pedigrees, genealogy and heraldry of North and South Wales families; religious treatises, prayers, devotions and sermons; a seventeenth-century Latin-Welsh dictionary and other manuscripts of linguistic interest; extracts from classical literature; commonplace books; academic notes; copies of significant historical letters and documents; political tracts; moralistic and philosophical works; memoranda, journals and private papers of members of the Anwyl and Owen families; a few Brogyntyn estate and trust papers, 1727-1792; and notes on public offices and official papers deriving from the administration of Oswestry Corporation, 1660, 1673. Some ancilliary materials, [19 cent, second ½]-[1960s], mostly correspondence and notes relating to individual manuscripts, are also included (MSS I.27a, II.1a, II.10a, II.22a, II.42a, II.54(h), II.56a).

Manuscripts, mainly in English but also including the majority (ten out of thirteen) of the Welsh Brogyntyn manuscripts, deposited at the National Library of Wales in 1934.

Manuscripts, mostly in English or Latin, deposited at the National Library of Wales in 1938.

A miscellany of texts in prose and verse, mainly in English but a few in Latin. The volume was written by sixteen scribes (see Daniel Huws (1996), pp. 190-199, now superseding Auvo Kurvinen (1953)), with writing styles varying from bastard secretary (ff. 8 verso-11) to fere-textura; ink varying from light to very dark brown and dark sepia. A selection of ten texts from the manuscript was published in Early English Miscellanies in Prose and Verse, ed. by J. O. Halliwell (London, 1855).
Among the main texts are the Arthurian romance 'Sir Gawaine and the Carle of Carlyle' (ff. 12-26), a treatise on the limning of books (ff. 33-52 verso), a life of St Catherine of Alexandria (ff. 91-129) and a prose version of the Middle English poem 'The Siege of Jerusalem' (ff. 157 verso-184). Ancilliary materials, [mid-20 cent.], comprising typescript notes relating to the manuscript are filed separately (Brogyntyn MS II.1a).

A volume containing a holograph copy, finished 16 January 1649/50, of an incomplete translation into Welsh by Rowland Vaughan (c. 1590-1667), Caer Gai, Llanuwchllyn, Merionethshire, of Eikon Basilike, a work attributed to King Charles I and first published a few hours after the king's execution on 30 January 1648/9.
Preceding the translation is a dedicatory epistle to Col. Sir John Owen of Clenennau, Caernarvonshire, under whom Vaughan served during the Civil War (f. 1 recto-verso), three verses on the death of Charles I and four regarding the translation (f. 2). The surviving part of the translation begins towards the end of chapter 23 (the original pagination indicates the loss of 140 pages at the beginning) and continues to the end of the work (ff. 3 23 verso); it is followed by a table of contents (ff. 23 verso-24). Vaughan translated the text at Cilgellan, Merionethshire, since his own home, Caer Gai, had been destroyed by the Parliamentarian troops. The text of the dedicatory epistle is printed in Megan Ellis, 'Pethau nas Cyhoeddwyd, 2. Cyflwyniad Rowland Vaughan, Caergai, i'w gyfieithiad o Eikon Basilike', National Library of Wales Journal, 1 (1939-40), 141-144 (pp. 143-144). See also Eikon Basilike, or the King's Book, ed. by Edward Almack (London, 1904). A negative photostat copy of the manuscript was made, [?mid-20 cent.], prior to its repairing and binding at NLW and prior to its being foliated; this copy is now Brogyntyn MS II.56a.

A volume, dated 27 November 1625, containing the only known manuscript copy of John Fletcher's play Demetrius and Enanthe (see John Fletcher, Demetrius and Enanthe: A Pleasant Comedie, ed. by Margaret McLaren Cook and F. P. Wilson, Malone Society (Oxford, 1951)). It was first published in 1647, as 'The Humorous Lieutenant', in Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, Comedies and Tragedies (London, 1647, Wing B1581) and later separately as The Humorous Lieutenant; or, Generous Enemies: A Comedy... (London, 1697, Wing F1344).
The manuscript contains a dedicatory letter, dated 27 November 1625, 'To the honorable Sir Kelham [sic] Digbie knight', beginning 'Worthie Sir: I know, that to a Man of your religious Inclination', and ending 'as upon one that shall still reioyce to be esteemed/Your Commaunded Beades=man/ Raph Crane' (f. v); and Demetrius and Enanthe: first line 'Round, round: perfume it round: look you dilligently...'; last line 'And hang a Coward now: and there's my Song' (pp. 1-126). This transcript, containing passages not included in the printed texts, was made by the poet and copyist Ralph Crane (c. 1550s-1632; see F. P. Wilson, 'Ralph Crane, scrivener to the King's Players', The Library, 7 (1927), 194-215), and presented by him to Sir Kenelm Digby. The title page (f. iv) attributes the play to John Fletcher alone. Ancilliary materials, comprising correspondence, 1926-1948, of F. P. Wilson relating to his research on the manuscript, are filed separately (Brogyntyn MS II.42a).

Three dramatic Protestant dialogues translated into English, [c. 1540], by Robert Radcliffe of Jesus College, Cambridge, from the Latin Dialogi Aliquot of the French humanist and rhetorician Jean Tixier de Ravisi (Ravisius Textor), in a presentation manuscript for Henry VIII, with dedications: 'vnto oure moste Christian kynge supreme heed of the Chirche of Englande, and of oure happye remembrance, kynge henry the, viii' (p. 1); 'Your gracys humble subiect, Robert Radcliff professre of Artes, and schole maist[er] of Jesus Collegg in Cambrygg' (p. 89); the gift may be connected with Radcliffe's attempts to gain favour at court (cf. his letter, 1540, to Thomas Cromwell in Letters and Papers Foreign and Domestic of the Reign of Henry VIII, 23 vols (London, 1862-1932), xvi (1898), 204 (no. 400)). Little else is known of Robert Radcliffe; he cannot be identified with the dramatist Ralph Radcliffe (c. 1519-1559), who was schoolmaster, 1546-1559, at Hitchin, Hertfordshire, and is mentioned in John Bale, Scriptorum Illustrium Maioris Brytanniæ Catalogus, 2 vols (Basel, 1557-9, repr. Farnborough, 1971), I (1557), 700-701, and ibid., Index Britannniae Scriptorum (Cambridge, 1990), pp. xxxi, 332-334.
A note by Lord Harlech, November 1917, requesting prompt return of the volume, is attached inside front cover. Ancilliary materials relating to the (spurious) authorship of the manuscript are filed separately; they include four letters, 1917-1930, from Reginald L. Hine, Hitchin, and one, 1931, from Robin Flower, British Museum, to Lord Harlech, together with a press-cutting from The Morning Post, 1 September 1930 (Brogyntyn MS II.10a).

A notebook containing a brief account of the early naval career of Admiral Sir George Francis Seymour, written by his daughter, Emily Charlotte Seymour, afterwards the second Lady Harlech.
The account was written by Seymour on board HMS Collingwood during a passage from Rio de Janeiro to England in June 1848, while returning with her father from his service as commander-in-chief in the Pacific, 1844-1848.

Letters and papers of Margaret Owen of Penrhos, parish of Llandrinio, Montgomeryshire, granddaughter of Sir Robert Owen of Clenennau and Brogyntyn (ff. 1-17), together with an autograph draft, 1836, by John Ralph Ormsby-Gore, of his poem 'The Knights of St John of Jerusalem' (published in 1838) (ff. 22-42).
The correspondence includes letters from Mrs Hester Lynch Thrale (later Piozzi), [1778]-1805 (ff. 2-3, 8-13), Dr Samuel Johnson, 8 March 1781 (ff. 4-5), and Fanny Burney, 11 November 1785 (ff. 6-7). A few items have been boxed seperately on account of their format (see Brogyntyn MS II.38ii).

A volume, compiled 1806-1829, by [Mrs] F[rances] Morres Gore, the mother of William [Ormsby-]Gore, containing poetry and light verse by various contemporary authors.
The poetry includes 'Psyche or The Legend of Love' by Mary Tighe (ff. 17-127) and several poems by William [Ormsby-]Gore (pp. 12-14, 156-162, 184, 188). An index to most of the items is provided on p. 248. Items found loose within the volume have been tipped in (pp. 179-190 passim, 216).

A transcript of Lord Byron's English Bards and Scotch Reviewers: A Satire (London, 1809) in the hand of Mary Jane Ormsby Gore whose signature, dated 10 March 1816, appears on f. i verso (ff. 1-58, rectos only); together with a further transcript, of Byron's 'The Lament of Tasso', in the hand of Mrs Frances Morres Gore, whose initials, dated 23 July 1823, appear on f. 63 verso (ff. 59-63 verso).
A Civil War letter, 9 July 1645, from John Byron, 1st Baron Byron of Rochdale, to Col. Sir John Owen of Clenennau has been tipped in on f. iii, probably because its author, like the poet, was a Byron.

A copy of Siôn Dafydd Rhys, Cambrobrytannicæ Cymraecæve Lingvae Institvtiones et Rvdimenta... (London: Thomas Orwin, 1592, ESTC S115912), with manuscript additions in a number of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century hands throughout the volume and on the back fly-leaves, including Welsh verse in strict and free metre on pp. 98, 151, 196, 200 and 308-309, and 'pedwar mesir arhigain Cerdd Dant', 'y pedwar mesir arhugain Cerdd dafod' and 'y saith fesur ar hugain, ne'r saith fesurau [Cerdd Dant]' on pp. 305-307, together with a drawing of a Welsh triple harp and a diagram illustrating the tuning of its three sets of strings on p. 308.
The Welsh verses on p. 98 are probably in the hand of Robert Lloyd, whose name occurs on pp. 95, 98 and 157, and those on pp. 196 and 200 in the hand of Ffoulk Edwardes, whose name occurs on p. 156. The eighteenth-century hand which added the dates to poems on pp. 45, 164, 181, 183, 184, 190 and 248 probably also copied the verses on pp. 151, 248 and the texts on pp. 305-309.

A volume containing notes on logic very closely related to the published text of Dr Edward Bentham, An Introduction to Logick, Scholastical and Rational (Oxford, 1773, repr. Menston, 1967): 'An Introduction to Logick by Edward Bentham. D. D. Fellow of Oriel College Oxford' (First line: 'Logick is the Art of using our intellectual Faculties to the best Advantage ...'; last line: 'Orators, whose chief Employment it is to select such incidental Circumstances, as favour their Cause, & heighten their Importance') (pp. 1-169).
The present text could be based on notes taken at Bentham's lectures (he tutored at Oriel College from 1732) or on an unpublished draft of the published work, as it includes many of the footnotes found in the printed edition. The hand is that of Robert Godolphin Owen, son of William Owen (d. 1768) of Brogyntyn; he matriculated in 1751 at Oriel College (see Alumni Oxonienses), where he studied logic with Bentham (see letters, 1751-1752, from RGO, now NLW, Brogyntyn Estate and Family Records PEC5/10/54-63).

A volume containing a copy, [late 17 cent. x early 18 cent.], of a sermon preached on Ephesians iv.11-12 by Humphrey Humphreys, dean of Bangor (later bishop of Bangor and of Hereford), at the consecration of William Lloyd as bishop of St Asaph in 1680.

A volume of prayers and devotions, written in 1708, arranged in two parts with indexes to each part on ff. 1-2 and f. 37 respectively.
The first part, which lacks a title page owing to the excision of a leaf between ff. i and 1, relates to religious duties and comprises an analysis of each topic with a table of Biblical texts and proofs on facing pages (ff. 1-35); the second part comprises a series of devotions and prayers entitled 'Devotions for Morning and Evening together with severall other prayers upon particular Occasions' (ff. 36-71 verso).

A volume containing poetry mostly in strict metre, together with some prose items and a significant body of prophetic prose or vaticinatory verse, transcribed between 1649 (see pp. 285-288) and 1660 by Wiliam Bodwrda; the volume would appear to have been 'No. 17' in his own collection of manuscripts (see f. iv and p. 342).
The cited works are mainly those of fifteenth-century poets, including eulogies by Lewys Glyn Cothi and prophetic poetry by Dafydd Gorlech, Dafydd Llwyd ap Llywelyn ap Gruffudd o Fathafarn and Robin Ddu. Several pieces of prophecy are either anonymous or attributed to ambiguous and obscure authors such as Taliesin, y Bardd Cwsg and y Bergam. Eulogies composed in praise of the Bodwrda family are found on pages 181-193 and 285-288. Wiliam Bodwrda himself has paginated the manuscript from 1-341, but some of these numbers have been cropped in binding. The paper, according to the transcriber's practice, has been folded before use giving three vertical creases on every page, the left-hand crease being used as a guide for the alignment of the text. The transcriber uses a catchword on the bottom right-hand corner of most verso pages.

A lawyer's cause book containing memoranda, in Latin and English, relating to pleas heard, 1626-1636, in various courts, most notably Chancery, Star Chamber and the Exchequer, mainly originating in Monmouthshire, Herefordshire, London, Glamorgan and Breconshire, with a few from Shropshire, Bristol, Gloucester and Carmarthen, most of the parties' names being Welsh.

An autograph presentation copy of a treatise by Abraham Darcie of Geneva (fl. 1623-35), being an abridged version of his English translation of Pierre du Moulin, Héraclite; ou, de la vanité et misère de la vie humaine (dernière édition, Genève, 1624), published in full as Heraclitus; or, Meditations upon the Misery of Mankinde and the Vanitie of Humane Life (London, 1624, STC 7326).
The present copy is dedicated to 'Helen Evers', sc. Lady Elin Eure (née Maurice) of Clenennau and Brogyntyn (1578-1626), who was first married to Sir John Owen of Bodsilin (d. 1611/12), secretary to Sir Francis Walsingham (see also Brogyntyn MS II.22), and secondly to Sir Francis Eure (d. 1621), chief justice of the North Wales circuit. The printed editions of the translation are dedicated to John Egerton, 2nd earl of Bridgewater, Henry Vere, 18th earl of Oxford, and others, and Darcie may have come into contact with Elin Eure through his acquaintance with families of the English nobility.

Parchment roll bearing the order of the funeral procession of Queen Anne of Denmark, wife of King James I, 'from Denmarke Howse in the Stronde to Westminster Abbay the 27 Daie of May 1619'. Interspersed with the names and titles of individuals are nine polychrome illustrations of emblazoned banners, each held by a cuffed hand, and representing the arms of the queen as carried during the funeral procession.