A composite volume in three parts, dated to the late-fifteenth century (pp. 1-32), 1650 (pp. 33-48) and the eighteenth century (pp. 49-102), containing astrological material (pp. 2, 15-16, 95-98, 26-32); names of plants in Latin and Welsh (p. 3); charms (pp. 4-6); the Paternoster, with every sentence explained (p. 7b); theological tracts (pp. 10-14); a commentary on the Prophecies, dated 5 May 1650 (pp. 33-48); fragments of Bruts (pp. 49-64, 71-74, 83-94); a list of the hundreds and commotes of Wales (pp. 99-100) and of the parishes of Carmarthenshire (pp. 101-102); etc. On p. 6 is the note 'Gruff: llwyd ap Madoc Dd. a wnaeth y llyvyr hwnn i T. ap howel'.
The letters, 1894-1913, refer to the writer's academic work, researches and publications on the Welsh manuscripts. He refers to his research trips to a number of libraries and archival repositories. There are also a few passing references to contemporary events in Wales and to developments at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth.
Three surviving folia of a lost manuscript in Middle English, written by a professional scribe during the first quarter of the fifteenth century, containing parts of the ‘Nun’s Priest’s Link' and 'Nun's Priest's Tale’ from Geoffrey Chaucer’s 'Canterbury Tales'. Textual contents: f. l recto, VII2784-2820 (B2, 3974-4010) and 'Here endeth the p(ro)loge and bygynneth the tale'; f. 1 verso, VII2822-2860 (B2, 4012-4050); f. 2 recto, VII3021-3058 (B2, 4211-4248); f. 2 verso, VII3060-3098 (B2, 4250-4288); f. 3 recto, VII3184-3222 (B2, 4374-4412); f. 3 verso, VII3223-3262 (B2, 4413-4452). The folia were formerly tipped in at the back of a copy of Dr John Davies’s Antiquae Linguae Britannicae Dictionarium Duplex (1632). Linne R. Mooney has suggested that the Merthyr Fragment may be in the hand of Adam Pinkhurst; see Alexandra Gillespie and Daniel Wakelin (eds.), The Production of Books in England 1350-1500 (Cambridge, 2011), p. 199n.
