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Material from the library of the Reverend John Lloyd, Brunant, Cayo, relating almost entirely to late eighteenth and early nineteenth century parliamentary elections for the county of Carmarthen and for the county of the borough of Carmarthen. They consist of poetry, including 'An Essay on the Characters &c. of the Governors of the Boro' of Carmarthen', 1789, 'From plain Truth addressed ... to the Cambrian Sappho' by Mrs. [Maria Justina] Cowell, 1802, 'The Carmarthenshire Parson and a Freeholder. A Dialogue' by [Lewis] Lewis, rector of Clovelly, 1802, etc.; a state of the poll for the hundred of Cayo in the Carmarthenshire election, 16 July - 2 August 1802; holograph and autograph letters, 1807, of Herbert Lloyd, Carmarthen, [Lord] Robert Seymour, Llandilo, and Danl. Price, Junior, Talley; addresses to the Freeholders of the county of Carmarthen by 'A Freeholder', 1807, and to Lord D[ynevor] by 'A Carmarthenshire Freeholder', undated; and printed matter including a poem entitled 'County of the borough of Carmarthen. November, 15th, 1796. The Independent Burgesses's Glory', 'Carmarthen Election Committee, April 5th, 1803. Extract from Mr. Adam's Speech at the Close of the Proceedings', addresses to the electors of co. Carmarthen by W[illiam] Paxton, 1803, 1806, R. Seymour, 1807, and [Sir] Willm. Mansel, Iscoed, 1807, and to the electors of Cardigan Boroughs by J[ohn] Vaughan, Crosswood, 1807, 'The recent Roman Catholic Concerns considered' ('Diweddar Negesau'r Papistiaid wedi eu hystyried') by 'A Protestant of Carmarthenshire' ('Protestant O Sir Gaerfyrddin'), etc.

A manuscript copy, [1820s]-[1830s] (watermark 1814), of tours of North Wales undertaken in the Autumn of 1817 (pp. 1-30) and October 1819 (pp. 31-90) by Captain Henry Hanmer and his wife Sarah, including descriptions of visits to Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, the Ladies of Llangollen (pp. 10-11, 14-19, 45).
The itinerary includes Llangollen, Wrexham, Beddgelert, Caernarfon, Bangor, Llanberis, Holyhead, Conway and St Asaph, and includes descriptions of Dolbadarn Castle (pp. 55-58), the Penrhyn slate quarries (pp. 65-66) and Parys and Mona copper mines (pp. 69-73). A number of related poems and tales are interspersed throughout the text (pp. 4-101), including verses by Anne Grant (p. 19), Anna Seward (pp. 22-29), Sir Walter Scott (pp. 31-33), W. Sotheby (pp. 37-45), W. R. Spencer (pp. 48-53), Dr [William] Dodd (pp. 61-62), and Amelia Alderson Opie (pp. 88-89). They are followed by further transcripts in the same hand (pp. 107-120), including verses by Thomas Noel (pp. 112-118) and Sir Walter Scott (pp. 119-120), and, in a different hand (pp. 121-139), verses by Byron (pp. 121, 125), R. B. Sheridan (p. 121) and Robert Southey (p. 123). The volume contains numerous cuttings from engravings, either pasted or tipped in (pp. 1-103 passim); several of these are by Henry Gastineau and are taken from Wales Illustrated: In a Series of Views... (London, 1830), as is the printed description of Llangollen on pp. 101-102. Inserted at the end (pp. 187-198) is a pamphlet by S. G. Perceval, The Ladies of Llangollen: New and interesting facts ([?1909]), transcribing extracts from the present manuscript. A press cutting, [1829], concerning the Ladies of Llangollen is pasted inside the front cover. Pressed flowers are pasted in on pp. 57, 64-65, and the remains of a leaf has been placed in an archival envelope.

Autograph manuscript, dated 11 September 1799 (watermark 1794), of Anna Seward's 'Sonnet for the drawer in the thatched shed by the brook at Plas Newydd'. It was published, with a very few minor alterations, in The Poetical Works of Anna Seward, ed. by Walter Scott, 3 vols (Edinburgh, 1810), III, 314.
Seward stayed with Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Sarah Ponsonby, The Ladies of Llangollen, at their Plas Newydd home for four days in September 1799 (see Letters of Anna Seward: Written between the years 1784 and 1807, ed. by A. Constable, 6 vols (Edinburgh, 1811), V, 248-53).

Notebook, 1719-1754, of the Reverend John Phillips, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, containing verses by various authors including himself, chiefly of topical and local interest.

Autograph verse and notes, 1705-1745, by Andrew Mansell of the parish of Ightfield, co. Salop, including verse on religious and personal themes, on local events, people and places, epigrams and acrostics, and notes on sermons preached locally.

Commonplace book, 1818-[c. 1828], mainly in English with portions in French, Latin, German, Italian and Dutch. The volume contains facetious 'Resolutions for the Preservation of regularity at Shanes Castle during the meeting for the Performance of Cymbeline' by Frederick, Lord North, 1786 (pp. 1-2) (cf. NLW MS 11167B); miscellaneous poems including an apparently unpublished poem by Byron, 'On a Lock of Hair', commencing 'Swear not at all, but if thou must' (p. 13), another two of his poems (pp. 13, 24), poems by R. B. Sheridan (pp. 5, 7, 14) and a number of rhymes by 'Mr. Cowper' [?William Cowper] (pp. 3-4); a famous sermon on malt attributed to Dr John Dod (pp. 8-9); and humorous letters, epigrams, epitaphs, anagrams and charades including two composed by Charles James Fox (pp. 25, 28) and four composed by Professor [Richard] Porson (pp. 28-9, 31, 69). The answers to the anagrams and charades are in Greek orthography written in reverse.

Transcripts, [early 19th cent.] (watermark 1803), in an unknown hand, of odes, ballads, dialogues and satirical letters of English political interest, composed by Sir Charles Hanbury Williams in the period 1732-1745.
With the exception of 'To Kitty Walker' (f. 62), all the works appear, with mostly minor variations, in The Works of the Right Honourable Sir Chas. Hanbury Williams..., 3 vols (London, 1822). The contents list (f. i recto-verso) includes titles of additional poems, after f. 119, which were subsequently cut from the volume.

Cyfrol yn cynnwys barddoniaeth a chaneuon yng Nghymraeg a Saesneg, ynghyd â rhai testunau rhyddiaith Cymraeg, a gopïwyd, [1780au], gan Humphrey Jones o Gastell Caereinion, sir Drefaldwyn. = A volume of Welsh and English poetry, with some Welsh prose texts, transcribed, [1780s], by Humphrey Jones of Castle Caereinion, Montgomeryshire.
Ceir yn y llawysgrif gerddi Cymraeg gan John Thomas o sir Drefaldwyn (tt. 2-11), John Thomas 'o bentre'r Fidog' [Pentrefoelas] (tt. 12-14), Robert Evan[s] o Feifod (tt. 16-17) a David Evans o Lanfair Caereinion (tt. 23-24), pedwar cywydd gan Morys Probert [ap Robert], Huw Llwyd Cynfel ac eraill (tt. 46-52), a phedwar englyn (tt. 52, 54). Mae'r cerddi Saesneg, ar amrywiaeth o bynciau (tt. 1, 14-15, 19-23, 25-29, 44-45, 53), yn cynnwys y gân 'On Masons and Masonry' gyda'r dôn mewn hen nodiant (t. 53). Fe gynhwysir hefyd adysgrif o'r cyfan o'r gyfrol Histori Nicodemus… A osodwyd allan gan Dafydd Jones (Yr Amwythig, [?1745]) (tt. 30-43); a rysáit meddyginiaethol ar gyfer clefyd y brenin, neu'r mandwyn (tu mewn i'r clawr blaen). = The manuscript includes Welsh poems by John Thomas of Montgomeryshire (pp. 2-11), John Thomas 'o bentre'r Fidog' [Pentrefoelas] (pp. 12-14), Robert Evan[s] of Meifod (pp. 16-17) and David Evans of Llanfair Caereinion (pp. 23-24), four cywyddau by Morys Probert [ap Robert], Huw Llwyd Cynfel and others (pp. 46-52), and four englyns (pp. 52, 54). The English poems, on various subjects (pp. 1, 14-15, 19-23, 25-29, 44-45, 53), includes a song 'On Masons and Masonry' accompanied by the tune in staff notation (p. 53). Also included is a transcript of the whole of the volume Histori Nicodemus… A osodwyd allan gan Dafydd Jones (Shrewsbury, [?1745]) (pp. 30-43); and a medical recipe for the 'King’s Evil', or scrofula (inside front cover).

A holograph letter from [Walter Davies, 'Gwallter Mechain'] to [ ], undated (the alliance of the Lloyds of Hendre'r Mur to the Anwyls) (mutilated); a holograph letter from T. Price to Mr. Pryse, undated (the political systems of Europe); an obituary notice of Evan Lloyd, vicar of Llanfair [Dyffryn Clwyd], 1776, directed to the printer of the London Evening Post; an incomplete and mutilated text of Evan Lloyd: The Methodist (London, 1766); three poems, in the same hand, entitled 'An Apology for Capn. S . . .y' (1780), 'A Riddle for Mrs. Grose', and 'A New Song'; etc.

A file of miscellaneous papers including letters addressed to Evan Lloyd by John Carne, Cowbridge, 1771, and J. Curre; an incomplete letter by E. Lloyd; a letter by J. Davies to Miss Lloyd at Vrondderw, Bala, with an account of Prince Eugene and a verse 'on seeing Mr. Vaughan and his retinue in their way to Nanney'; a letter by Richard Fenton, 1817, to John Watton, Shrewsbury, with copies of letters by Evan Lloyd to Pugh 'the jeweller in Cockspur Street', 1774, to David Garrick, 1772, and to Roger Jones, Cefn Rug, 1774; verses entitled 'Address written for Mrs. ----- Benefit', beginning 'As some lone miser, visiting his store'; an incomplete typescript of George Cumberland: An Attempt to describe Hafod', 1796; abstracts of Shrewsbury charity accounts, 1756, and papers relating to a lawsuit touching the administration of certain charities by the Mayor and burgesses of Shrewsbury.

Miscellaneous documents including three holograph letters to Thomas Jenyns (Jennings), Dodleston, from Edward ap Ellis, 1630 (sureties), T. Vaughan, Hengwrt, 1631/2 (the apprehension of a barker for a debt of £200), and Rich. Vaughan, Corsygedol, 1632/3 (the release of a poor prisoner); two holograph letters from J[ohn] Pardoe, London, to Madam [ ], 1762 (the receipt of letters), and to Mrs. Anne Bee, Salop, 1773 (the payment of a dividend); a holograph letter from Edw. Lewis, Dolgelley, to Richard Whittacres, Cottone, 1634 (Edward ap Ellis's writ); a holograph letter from [ ] Lucking?, London, to [ ], 1703 (the affairs of the family of Mr. Abbott); a holograph letter from Sinah Mathews, C[astle] B[romwich], to her nephew John Williams, Chester, 1734 (begging the acceptance of two cheeses); a holograph letter from [ ] to the Commissioners of Ecclesiastical Affairs [1688?] (the writers' determination not to sit upon a case) (transcript; mutilated); a receipt, 1710, by Mary Hieron to Mrs. Susannah Hulton, Dudliston, for a guinea; a receipt, 1762, by B. Hatchett to the Reverend George Hodges and William Prichard, trustees in the will of William Morrall, deceased, for £62.6s. received upon a bond; an undated [eighteenth century] poem entitled 'The Ghost'; a memorandum, 1633, concerning the apprehending of Edd. ap Elice otherwise Edd. Wynne; a copy of an inscription upon a memorial tablet to Ellis Lloyd of Penylan [Ruabon], who died in 1712; an abstract of the will [13 September, 1663] of Sir Griffith Williams [of Pen'rallt, Conway] (mutilated); an account (1 page) of Dudliston, said to have been written by W. Challner, senior; a draft of a letter [nineteenth century] relating to a road to be constructed in order to avoid the Oswestry Trust; and a pen drawing of an ecclesiastical dignitary.

Miscellaneous poems in various hands including poems entitled 'A Christmas Chace 1777' (mention of Porkington and Llanarmon), 'The Cheshire Grand Jury's Address to Sir J[?oseph] J[?eky]ll' [chief justice of Chester, 1697- 1717] (referring to the prosecution of [Henry] Sacheverel[l] in which Jekyll had taken part), 'On the total Eclipse of the Moon, July 3oth 1776', and 'A Mere Sketch for the Amusement of you and yours' (addressed on the dorse to John Lloyd, Esqr., Wickwer near St. Asaph), a Latin epitaph to Jonathan Edwards [principal of Jesus College, Oxford, 1686-1712], and a poem written by Richard Howard [later rector of Denbigh, 1818-1843, and of Llandegfan with Beaumaris, 1826-1843, etc.] at Mold, 10 April 1802 (addressed on the dorse to Miss [ ] Lloyd, Mold).

A copy of a poem entitled 'The Temple of Honour. An Heroic Poem', having the name R. Potter on the title page, and probably being by and in the hand of the Reverend Robert Potter.

A copy of a poem entitled 'An Epistle to Sir Armine Wodehouse' [5th bart. of Kimberley, co. Norfolk]. The work is dated 1 March 1756, and is probably by and in the hand of the Reverend Robert Potter, whose poem in praise of the Wodehouse family entitled 'Kymber. A Monody to Sir Armine Wodehouse' was published in 1759.

A volume of notes, memoranda, etc., compiled circa 1650-1667 [?by the Reverend Archibald Sparke, incumbent of Northop, 1639-1656 and again 1660-1669, and prebendary of the prebend of Llanefydd in the cathedral church of St. Asaph, 1661-1669], with later additions in an eighteenth century hand. The seventeenth century entries fall into four main groups. Ff. 1-69 contain notes in Latin on theology, points of Christian doctrine, etc., which appear in the main to be based upon or extracted from the writings of St. Augustine. Ff- 70-83 contain meditations or reflections indulged in by the writer on certain days during the years 1652, 1654, 1655, and 1659/60. They are written in English and are occasionally followed by a few lines of Latin verse. Most are of a religious, moralising nature, some arising from incidents in the writer's everyday life, others being based upon recollections of ?historical incidents such as the quarrel and the subsequent duel between Sir Hatton Cheek and Sir Thomas Dutton, two of the officers under the command of Sir Edward Cecill [aft. 1st baron Cecil of Putney and viscount Wimbledon of Wimbledon, co. Surrey], commander of the British forces at the siege of Juliers in the Netherlands [in 1610], and the alleged use of the ribbon of the Order of the Garter which had been awarded to Prince Maurice of Orange by one of his grooms to commit murder. At times the writer's royalist and Anglican leanings appear to come to light, as in his references to 'King James of euer blessed memorie (Let the deuil and his helhounds bark what they can)', and to the 'new piles of heresie and schismaticall advancements' [erected in London]. Occasionally one finds a biographical note such as 'I am now . . . 47 years old . . .' on 21 May 1655. Ff. 114-59 contain expository notes on each verse of the First Epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians as far as chapter 5, verse 11 (chapter 4, verse 18 excepted), the verses being mainly in Greek and the notes in Latin and English, whilst ff. 163-221 contain similar notes on each verse of the Song of Solomon, the verses in this instance being in Hebrew and the notes almost entirely in Latin. In most instances each verse and its accompanying notes is headed by the place name Northop (Northhope, Northhopie, apud Northhope, etc.) and a date (Sundays during the period November 1650-July 1652 in the case of the Epistle to the Thessalonians, and Sundays during the period September 1654-December 1656 in the case of the Song of Solomon). This possibly indicates that these were sermon notes, though, given the dates that appear, this would imply a series of sermons on consecutive verses of the two scriptural books in question on consecutive Sundays. Ff. 259-63 contain a list of texts preached upon [by the aforesaid Archibald Sparke] at Northop and occasionally elsewhere, 1662-1667. Included also in the volume are eight lines of Latin verse with the English title 'Vpon the ruins of the Cathedrall Church of St. Asaph, 1657' (f. 84), additional notes similar to those on ff. 1-69 (ff. 270-1), and meditations on death (ff. 110-11, which appear to be in a different hand). The eighteenth century entries on blank pages or half pages, etc., include a poem entitled 'A Begging Epistle In Rhime from a poor poet' mentioning [Alexander] Pope and [Matthew] Prior, a poem dated 1732 being 'ye laments of a true lover for ye death of a Lady', a five stanza poem the fifth stanza of which exhorts the readers to let Warburton be their Member [of Parliament], Manwaring or Bennet their mayor, and Kyff. Williams their sheriff [members of the Warburton, Bennet and Manwaring families feature as members of parliament, sheriffs and mayors for the city and county of Chester in the late seventeenth and first half of the eighteenth century], other miscellaneous verse, and incomplete drafts of letters mentioning cousin Bethel Whitmore and approaches to Sir George Wynn [?1st bart. of Leeswood, co. Flint, ob. 1756] with regard to employment. All references are to the modern foliation.

Twenty-seven holograph letters, 1739-1756 and undated, from R[ichard] Hurd [later bishop successively of Lichfield and Coventry, 1775-1781, and of Worcester, 1781-1808] from [Emmanuel College] Camb[ridge], Hatton Grange [Shropshire], and Reymerston [co. Norfolk], to the Reverend [? John] Potter at Doddington near Marshfield in Gloucestershire (1), and Batcombe near Brewton (23), Shepton Mallet (1), and Axbridge near Wells (1) in Somersetshire. Some of these letters are fairly lengthy without containing much factual information, being written in a philosophic and discursive vein, with a fondness for quotations from or allusions to classical authors. The two men appear to have been fond of writing poetry, and in the present letters Hurd comments on poems received from Potter and sends him examples of his own work including poems entitled 'Zelinda' (a maiden gazing at her reflection in a stream laments the transient nature of personal beauty), ' A View of the beauties of the country particularly those of Hatton Grange in Shropshire', 'A Soliloquy' (composed when travelling through Northamptonshire and reflecting upon the contrast between the miserable condition of shepherds the writer had seen and their idyllic existence in poetry), 'Verses wrote in a Pope's Essay on Man' (? composed by Hurd or discovered by him), and 'Ode on the Peace' (in 1748), a poem written whilst ruminating on Norton gardens, and a poem reflecting on aspects of rural life. Topics referred to more specifically in these letters include the writer's change of residence to Hatton Grange in Shropshire, the delightful nature of that neighbourhood, the writer's delight in reading Virgil, the loan of a speech to deliver at Emman[uel College, Cambridge] on 5 November, the style of recipient's letters, the mental image conjured up in the writer's mind by a description sent to him by Potter of his home and its neighbourhood (1739); the lack of letters from [William] Gould, an old friend, with comments on waning friendships, the connection between physical deformities or ugliness and an evil disposition, verses on Dr . [ ] Bowden written by recipient's brother (1740); the writer's attendance at a concert held at the Tons [in Cambridge] and a meeting with Will[iam] Gould, the appearance of Mr. [Christopher] Pitt's translation of Virgil's Aeneid in 4to volumes and the expectation of a 12° edition, Mr. Pitt's translation of 'Vida's Art of Poetry' [the De Arte Poetica of Marcus Hieronymus Vida, first published in Paris in 1534 and translated by Pitt in 1725], the content and style of Dr. [Conyers] Middleton's [life of] Cicero [The History of the Life of M. Tullius Cicero, London, 1741], a comparison of recipient's verses with those of [Matthew] Prior and comments on Prior's work, a letter received by recipient's brother in answer to a poem he had sent Mr. Pitt to compliment him upon his translation, 'Dr. [Patrick] Delany's life of David' [An Historical Account of the Life and Reign of David, King of Israel, published 1740-1742], affairs at Cambridge, a visit by Bob Hudson who had come to Cambridge to be ordained priest, a concert at Trinity College Hall [Cambridge] for the benefit of Signor Caporalli 'the famous Bass Violist' [? Andrea Caporale] with Signor Pasqualli [? Niccolo Pasquali] playing the first fiddle, the writer's interest 'in drawing up a treatise on Pastoral Poetry' (1741); an offer to the writer of a living in Norfolk worth about £70 or £80 a year and an arrangement with Bob Hudson that Hudson would hold the living for him until he was qualified to hold it himself, a visit to the patron [of the living] who had an excellent collection of manuscripts, medals and paintings, the appearance of 'the new Dunciad. It is believ'd to be, and certainly is, Mr. Pope's' [Alexander Pope: The New Dunciad . . ., consisting of a fourth book of the Dunciad, 1742], the writer's ordination in St. Paul's [London] by [Joseph Butler], bishop of Bristol, on letters dimissory from [Thomas Gooch, bishop of] Norwich, visits to 'the curiosities of the Town' including Vaux Hall and Ranelagh, an offer of a fellowship [at Emmanuel College, Cambridge] vacated by [Nathaniel] Smalley, further praise for the writer's patron 'the most general Scholar I have convers'd with' who had provided him with a curacy as well as the living [? of Reymerston], a fortnight spent with Dr. [Cox] Macro who had shown the writer his manuscripts including a 'paraphrase of his upon the Revelations connected all along with & expland from History', a loan of sermons which the writer promised not to preach anywhere except in his own two parishes of Reymerston and Gaverston, hopes of obtaining the opinion of Dr. Macro and the recipient on the Life . . . of David [see above], the writer's intention of 'looking a little into Italian' with Dr. [Macro] as his instructor, queries with regard to passages from Lucretius (1742); the writer's election as a fellow [of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1742], the election of Dr. [William] George as provost of King's [College, Cambridge] and the disputing of the validity of the election by [Richard Reynolds], bishop of Lincoln, who was visitor of the college, the controversy between [Conyers] Middleton and the 'new made' public orator at Cambridge [James Tunstall who had been elected in October 1741] concerning the former's book on the life of Cicero [see above], recipient's remarks on 'Dr. Young's Night Thoughts' [Edward Young: The Complaint or Night Thoughts on Life, Death and Immortality, 1742-], 'Whitehead's paltry Epistle from Ann Boleyn' [William Whitehead: Ann Boleyn to Henry the Eighth, An Heroic Epistle (versified), 1743], a French novel called Marianne [? Claude Francois Lambert: La Nouvelle Marianne, or Pierre Marivaux: La Vie de Marianne], the first epistle in the writer's proposed work on pastoral poetry to be entitled 'Thoughts on Pastoral Poetry in ten Letters on the Eclogues of Virgil', Mr. [Christopher] Hand's new living at Aller in Somersetshire worth 'near 300 pounds' a year, the recipient's new curacy [? at Shepton Mallet], [William] Gould's ordination as priest and institution to the vicarage of Hoxen in Suffolk (1743); a legacy bequeathed to recipient by his aunt, the election of [Thomas Pelham-Holles formerly Pelham, 4th] d[uke] of Newcastle [upon Tyne, later 1st duke of Newcastle under Line and baron Pelham of Stanmer, co. Sussex] to succeed [Charles Seymour, 10th] d[uke] of Somerset, as chancellor [of the University of Cambridge], the death of the professor of divinity [at Cambridge] who was also master of P[eter] House [John Whalley, regius professor of divinity, 1742-1748, and master of Peterhouse, 1733-1748], the appointment of Dr. [Edmund] Keene [later bishop successively of Chester, 1752-1771, and of Ely, 1771-1781] to the vacant mastership, the expectation that the professorship of divinity would be given to Mr. Green of St. John's [College, Cambridge] [John Green, who was appointed and later became bishop of Lincoln, 1761] (1748); and the writer's presentation to the [Emmanuel] College living of Thurcaston near Leicester, a rectory worth 'between two and three hundred pounds a year' (1756). The letters also contain frequent references to the recipient's love affair and to his brother, who appears to have been a student at Cambridge and then ? curate of Reymerston.

A volume of Pennant miscellanea. It comprises poems, mainly in English and Welsh, including 'An Elegy on the death of Captain Thos. Myddelton, Denbigh' by Thomas Edwards (Twm o'r Nant), translations in the autograph of R. Williams, Vron, from paraphrases by Evan Evans (Ieuan Brydydd Hir), 'Banks of the Daw' and 'Ode to Laudanum' by and in the autograph of Edward Williams (Iolo Morganwg), 'Garricks Verses on seeing Buxton' and 'Upon seeing Garricks verses', an elegy on the death of Sir Stephen Glynne (d. 1 April 1780), and two poems in Estonian with Latin translations and the melody in staff notation; printed broadsides, circulars, etc., including a copy of Dafydd Ddu Feddyg [David Samwell], Ode for St. David's Day, 1791 ([?London], [1791], ESTC T231565), being a copy sent by Samwell to Thomas Edwards (Twm o'r Nant) with an autograph poem entitled 'To Thos. Edwards of Nant on his having received the Honour of Cadairfardd at St. Asaph Eisteddfod in May 1790'; letters and transcripts of letters from Sir John Wynn, bart., of Gwydir, to Sir Hugh Myddelton (September 1, 1625), from Robert Wynne, Gresford, to Richard Williams (March 24, 1731/2), from Thomas Pennant to John Lloyd, Caerwys, to Thomas Pennant from Mathurin-Jacques Brisson (author of Ornithologie and other works), John Lloyd, Caerwys, Richard Williams, Vron (together with a mock elegy to Evan Evans (Ieuan Brydydd Hir)), Richard Davies, Holywell, and John Edwards, Kelsterton, from Evan Evans (Ieuan Brydydd Hir) to Paul Panton, from John Williams, Ystradmeurig, to Philip Yorke, Erthig, to David Pennant from Samuel Strong, John Parry, Henry Parry, Llanasa, Edward Jones, J. Oldfield, J. Douglas, J. W. Eyton, Leeswood, and E. Williams (secretary of the Flint and Denbigh Agricultural Society), and from William Davies Shipley (dean of St. Asaph), G. Thompson (editor and publisher of A Select Collection of Original Welsh Airs), David Howell (Llawdden), Thomas Croft (secretary to the 'Committee of the Grand Flintshire Eisteddfod', 1835), J. P. Eyton, etc.; material relating to Moses Griffith, the Welsh artist who accompanied Thomas Pennant on many of his tours, including his terms for executing landscapes, portraits, etc.; legal papers, including an inventory taken in 1637 of the goods, etc., of Robert Jones of Halkin, a copy of a bond from Thomas, baron Dillon, Viscount Castello Galler, and Theobald, viscount Jaffe, to Hugh Pennant of Bichton, a receipt (1774) from David Jones, Trefriw, for ten shillings and sixpence paid by Thomas Pennant, and depositions (1792) of colliers in regard to the alleged drowning of coal on the land of Sir Roger Mostyn; printed matter, including press cuttings, broadsides, circulars, etc., relating to volunteers to the merchant navy, the Metropolitan Cambrian Institution, poor-law, railways, communication with Ireland, hospitals, the Holywell Association, eisteddfodau, parliamentary elections, the Association for the encouragement of Agriculture and Industry, military service, schools in Flintshire, entertainments, mines, benefit clubs, etc.

Miscellaneous loose press cuttings and manuscript notes (some in the hand of Thomas and David Pennant), extracted from NLW MSS 12706-12714. The cuttings contain notes on the 'History of the sugar cane' (1832), and 'Northern herring fishing' (1827); news of an explosion at 'Mr. Eyton's Flint colliery' (1828), a meeting at Holywell in connection with a proposed petition against Catholic emancipation (1829), a suit, Sillitoe v Thomas, at Denbigh Great Sessions (1828), and the sale of an extra- illustrated copy (the Chiswell copy, consisting of eleven volumes quarto and one folio) of Thomas Pennant: A Tour in Wales, by Mr. Thorp, bookseller, of St. Martin's Lane [London], to an American buyer; obituary notices of the Reverend Thomas Maurice, assistant keeper of MSS at the British Museum (1824), and of Sir Thomas Mostyn [6th bart., of Mostyn, co. Flint] (1831); and a copy of a poem entitled 'Verses to Mr. Pennant on the writer's being apprized of his intention to make a visit into Cornwall'. The manuscript notes include 'A List of rare Plants observ'd in N. Wales nearly in the Order they were discover'd'; an 'Index to Walpole's Catalogue of Portraits at Woburn'; a list of ? portraits in various residences in England and Scotland, with a note at the top, in Thomas Pennant's hand, 'such as I have are marked thus X'; an 'Account of the Money mortified by George Heriot, Jeweller, to K. James VI, for founding his Hospital in Edinburgh'; copies of memorial inscriptions to Sion Trevor, Trevalyn, Dame Catherin, wife of Sir Richard Trevor of Trevalyn, Nicholas Pennant, Robert Pennant, Simon Yorke of Erthig, and his wife Dorothy, Elizabeth Yorke of Erthig, Sir John Williams, bart., of Bodelwyddan, and his wife, Dame Margaret, and Thomas Mostyn Edwards of Kilken Hall; notes on the Yarmouth herring fishery (1786); a rough pedigree of the Pennant family (sixteenth-eighteenth century); a list of the children of Mr. Lloyd [? the Reverend John Lloyd] of Caerwis (1794), with dates of birth; comments on [E.] Olafsen: Reise durch Island, 2 vols., 4°(Copenhagen and Leipsic, 1774); a copy of the inscription on Whitford school house; data relating to the births and deaths of various members of the Pennant family, 1637-1699; consolidated census statistics (houses and population), relating to the six counties of North Wales, with more detailed figures relating to specific parishes in co. Flint (1800), etc.

A folio volume lettered on the spine 'Pennant's Literary Life', and containing transcripts or printed copies of miscellaneous compositions mainly by, or relating to, Thomas Pennant. The first and main item is a variant manuscript version (62 pp.) of The Literary Life of the Late Thomas Pennant, Esq., by himself (London, 1793), with printed title-page and advertisement inlaid. The text of this manuscript version is substantially the same as that of the published edition, with certain variations in wording and phrasing, and minor omissions or additions. Occasionally, however, the manuscript text contains passages which do not occur in the printed work, e.g., (a) the additional information (p. 41) relating to the author's pamphlet entitled American Annals . . ., viz., that some one hundred copies had been printed, and sent by post to members of parliament, and that 'the friends of the Howes endeavored all they could to suppress them, by borrowing them . . ., and never returning them again', (b) the comments (pp. 42-3) relating to the trial [1783-1784] of the Reverend- William [Davies] Shipley, dean of St. Asaph, for seditious libel, (c) references (pp. 46-7) to the critical review of the author's book on London [Of London (London, 1790)], which appeared in The Gentleman's Magazine [vol. 60, part 1, 1790], 'a paper too subservient to the malice of its principal manager, Mr. Richard Gough', and to the Dublin 'pirated edition', and the German translation of the said book, (d) the comments (pp. 49-50) on the financial difficulties of John Reinhold Forster [naturalist], during his stay in England, his lack of gratitude towards his benefactors, and his ultimate return to the continent, (e) the information (p. 56) that Thomas Roden of Denbigh, 'a most admirable binder, and so extremely elegant in his trade', had been responsible for binding the [manuscript] volumes of the author's Outlines of the Globe, which had already been written, etc. Other manuscript items, in the order in which they occur, intermixed with printed material, include a copy of a letter addressed by ? Thomas Pennant, under the pseudonym 'Laicus', to the editor of an unspecified newspaper, undated (comments on the acceptance into Holy Orders of persons totally unsuited to such a calling, occasioned by seeing a satirical print entitled 'The Church Militant', a copy of which is reproduced); an unsigned, draft copy of a letter, in the hand of Thomas Pennant [and possibly from Thomas Pennant, to Sir Roger Mostyn, 5th bart., of Mostyn, co. Flint, and Leighton, co. Chester], April 1784 (political differences between the writer and recipient) (inlaid); an incomplete, draft copy, in the hand of Thomas Pennant, of a request to the sheriff of co. Flint, to summon a meeting of the gentlemen, clergy, and freeholders of the county, to meet at Mold, ? 1780, with a view to petitioning Parliament to make a scrutiny of 'useless places, sinecures and pensions', etc. (mounted); a draft copy of a petition to be presented by the gentlemen, clergy, and freeholders of co. Flint, to the House of Commons [1780], calling for the elimination of wasteful expenditure, and the application of the money saved to a more vigorous prosecution of the war against the Bourbons (mounted); an autograph letter from R. Kenyon, from Cefn, to ? Thomas Pennant, February 1780 (suggested alterations in the aforementioned draft petition) (inlaid); a copy of the oration delivered by Samuel Forster, in Convocation at Oxford [University], 11 May 1771, when presenting Thomas Pennant for the honorary degree of LL.D. (Latin); a ? holograph letter from J. P. Andrews, from Brompton, [co.] Midd[lese]x, to T[homas] Pennant, 1791 (the recipient's book on the 'history of the Capital' [Of London (London, 1790)], observations on opinions expressed by recipient in connection with mail coaches) (mounted); a copy of a memorial inscription to John Norman, attorney at law, in Newmarket church; a note of the death at Bychton, parish of Whiteford, ?13 November 1796, of Mr. Williams, tidewaiter; and occasional marginal and other annotations in the hand of Thomas Pennant. The remaining items in the volume, apart from the illustrations, consist entirely of inlaid or mounted printed material. Under a running title Miscellanies, and paginated [1]-25, though intermixed with other items, are found copies of two poems [composed by Thomas Pennant] entitled 'Ode occasioned by a lady professing an attachment to Indifference' (Chester, 1769), and 'On a lady chosen on the same day patroness of a book society and hunting meeting' (Chester, 1771) (for a reference to both see Literary Life, p. 32); two letters written by [Thomas Pennant, under the pseudonym] 'Camber', from Hawd y lam [sic] and Old Bond Street, 1781 (the first, published in the Chester Courant, dealing with the fashion amongst ladies of wearing riding apparel, even when not intending to ride, and the second with the possible dangers resulting from flirtatious behaviour on the part of married women. See Literary Life, p. 32); and two pamphlets [by Thomas Pennant] entitled American Annals or Hints and Queries for Parlement Men, and Flintshire Petition. Other printed items, in the order in which they occur, include copies of pamphlets, etc., by Thomas Pennant called Of the Patagonians. Formed from the relation of Father. Falkener, a Jesuit, who had resided among them thirty eight years. And from the different voyagers, who had met with this tall race (Darlington, 1788), A Letter from a Welsh Freeholder to his Representative (Chester, 1784), Free Thoughts on the Militia Laws . . . addressed to the Poor Inhabitants of North Wales (London, 1781), To the Poor concerned in Mineral Counties (1773), A Letter to a Member of Parliament on Mail-Coaches (London, 1792) (some pages misplaced), Flintshire Association, and Catalogue of My Works (1786); a Navy Office certificate of exemption from the attentions of the press gang, with personal details filled in by Thomas Pennant, 1755; copies of two Latin poems, 1786 and undated, by Richard Williams, in praise of Thomas Pennant; an English translation of the second of the aforesaid poems, by the author; newspaper cuttings containing poems headed 'Verses to Mr. Pennant on the writer's being apprized of his intention to make a visit into Cornwall', and 'To the memory of Thomas Pennant, Esq., ob. 1798'; a copy of the advertisement or preface contributed by David Pennant, son of Thomas Pennant, to vols. III and IV (two in one) of his father's work Outlines of the Globe, published posthumously, 1800; and a copy of a short biography of Thomas Pennant, with a bibliography of some of his works, listing the plates in each work. The volume has some sixty-seven illustrations (some duplicated). A few of these consist of miscellaneous original drawings, chiefly in water-colour, but the majority are engravings, mostly portraits in line. To the former group belong two self-portraits (the second, 1811), by Moses Griffith. The first of these faces p. 12, at the foot of which page is a short, biographical note relating to the birth, baptism, and early schooling of the painter. This, according to an additional, pencilled note, in another hand, is in 'M. G's own hand'. To this first group also belong a water-colour sketch of the 'Approach to Pont St. Maurice' [Switzerland], and sketches for, or copies of, satirical prints relating to the trial of Dean William Davies Shipley (see above). To the second category belong the prints called 'The Church Militant' (see above), and 'The Triumph of Turbulence, or Mother Cambria possessed' (the Shipley trial), and the portraits (in the order in which they appear in the text) of Thomas Pennant, Mrs. [Hester Lynch] Piozzi [authoress], Sir Cha[rles] Linneus [botanist], G[eorge] Edwards [naturalist], John Ray [naturalist], [Francois Marie Arouet] de Voltaire, Solomon Gessner [Swiss poet and engraver], Conrad Gesner [naturalist], Christoph Jac[ob] Trew [German naturalist], Albrecht v[on] Haller [Swiss physiologist], Christoph Gottlieb von Murr [German scholar], [Daniel Charles] Solander [botanist], Sir Joseph Banks, George Allan [antiquary and topographer], and William Hutchinson [topographer] (together), Francis Grose [antiquary and draughtsman ], Benfamin] Stillingfleet [naturalist and dilettante] (with ? autograph), the Rev[erend] John Lloyd [ rector of Caerwys, and Thomas Pennant's companion], [the Honourable] Daines Barrington [lawyer and antiquary], the Reverend W[illiam] D[avies] Shipley, dean of St. Asaph, Charles I, William Seward [biographer], [the Reverend] W[illia]m Coxe [archdeacon of Wilts.], Sir Roger Mostyn [5th bart., of Mostyn, co. Flint], Richard [Howe, 1st viscount Howe of Langar, and] earl Howe, Charles [Cornwallis, 2nd] earl Cornwallis [and 1st marquess Cornwallis], General [George] Washington, and General [Horatio] Gates. The text of the 'Literary Life', and of certain other manuscript sections of the volume, such as the Oxford doctorate oration, was possibly transcribed by Thomas Jones, son of Roger Jones, parish clerk of the parish [of Whitford, co. Flint], who had been engaged by Thomas Pennant in 1791 as his secretary, 'to copy my several manuscripts' (see Literary Life, p. 39).