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A notebook containing an analysis, in the form of questions and answers, of John Wilkins, Of the Principles and Duties of Natural Religion (London, 1675, Wing W2204), in the hand of Robert Godolphin Owen, son of William Owen of Brogyntyn (pp. 1-28). It was probably compiled by him whilst he was a student at Oriel College, Oxford (see Brogyntyn MS II.25): 'An Abridgement of Wilkin's [sic] Natural Religion' (First line, 'Q. What is treated in the first Book? ...'; last line, '… for tho' it may not be an immediate Revelation, yet we are sure it is warranted by God').

Two volumes containing notes, in the same unidentified hand, based on the text of Compendium Christianæ Doctrinæ seu Commentarii Catachetici, being the commentary by the German Lutheran theologian Zacharias Ursinus on the Heidelberg Catechism devised by himself and Caspar Olevian (cf. STC 13023). The notes, perhaps compiled by a Cambridge student, are probably based on a continental Latin edition (Neustadt [an der Hardt], 1598), but at times follow closely the Latin editions printed in Cambridge in 1585 (STC 24529) and 1587 (STC 24531).
Contents: '1589 Compendium christianæ doctrinæ seu commentarii catechetici, deliberatum ex ore zachariæ ursini anno domini 1598' (First line, 'Questio/Quid catechesis sit?'; last line, 'Amen significat ac certum ratinnorum sit quod petimus. finis de precationis') (MS II.35i, ff. 1-141); 'Compendium christianæ doctrinæ, seu commentarii catæchetici' (First line, 'Questio/Quid catechesis sit?'; last line, 'Propter c[onf]irmationem fidei per [c]enam dominicam. D[ ] primo. Joh. ?3 et 35 Secundo rom. 4. 25') (MS II.35ii, ff. 1-79 verso and inside back cover).

A volume containing a manuscript copy of 'Δαιμονιωδησ: or The Ungratefull Dæmon Dispossessed. Being, A Second Reply to ye Rage & Ravings of J. Partridge: design'd for ye recovery of his Senses againe, w[hi]ch have bin lately Shipwrack'd in ye Rough Seas of Ingratitude, Immorality, Scandall, &c', being an unpublished sequel by the astrologer John Gadbury to his previously published attack upon his former pupil, the astrologer and almanac-maker John Partridge, entitled A Reply to that Treasonous and Blasphemous Almanack for 1687 (London, 1687, Wing R1065A). Textual emendations by the scribe throughout the work suggest it to be a holograph copy, probably written in about 1690 (see the reference on f. 9 to Partridge's Almanack of 1690).
The rivalry between Gadbury and Partridge was political as well as personal; the former had Roman Catholic sympathies and supported James II, whereas the latter was Protestant and fled to Holland after the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion, not returning to England until 1689. Gadbury's Almanack of 1689, in which he predicted the triumph of James II over William of Orange, is dedicated to Sir Robert Owen of Brogyntyn and a copy in presentation binding is now at Glyn Hall (Inventory (1985), p. 123).

A parchment roll, written in England, [13 cent., second ½], containing the pedigree-chronicle of biblical history attributed to Peter of Poitiers [Petrus Pictaviensis]. Text is written in textura; ink, dark brown. The scribe uses red and blue for display script; two-line initials in blue.
On the Compendium Historiæ (or Promptuarium Bibliæ), see H. Vollmer, Deutsche Bibelauszüge des Mittelalters zum Stammbaum Christi mit ihren lateinischen Vorbildern und Vorlagen (Potsdam, 1931) and Thomas Jones, Y Bibyl Ynghymraec (Cardiff, 1940), pp. xiii-xxxiv, with a listing of 33 manuscripts. On the English derivatives see Albinia de la Mare, Catalogue of the Collection of Medieval Manuscripts Bequeathed to the Bodleian Library, Oxford, by James P. R. Lyell (Oxford, 1971), pp. 80-85, 461. See also Hans-Eberhard Hilpert, 'Geistliche Bildung und Laienbildung: Zur Überlieferung der Schulschrift "Compendium historiae in genealogia Christi", Compendium veteris testamenti des Petrus von Poitiers (+1205) in England', Journal of Medieval History, 11 (1985), 315-331 (p. 329). The texts preceding and following the Compendium in the present manuscript are also associated with it in BL, Royal 14.B.ix.

A treatise, [late 17 cent.], entitled 'Quel est le different touchant le Baptisme es Eglises reformées', being a discussion in French on baptism in the Catholic and reformed churches.

A volume containing scriptural and theological notes, written in an early-seventeenth century italic hand.

Two photostat copies (one positive and one negative) of Brogyntyn MS I.7, made in New York in 1926 while the manuscript was on loan to Acton Griscom, then preparing his edition of The Historia Regum Britanniӕ of Geoffrey of Monmouth (London, 1929) (each copy 92 ff., unfoliated); together with an off-print of Acton Griscom, 'The Date of Composition of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia: New Manuscript Evidence', Speculum, I (1926), 129-156, signed by the author and sent to Lord Harlech (ff. 93-111); and twelve letters, 1925-1927, mainly from Acton Griscom, New York, to Lord Harlech, August 1925-July 1927, with one letter from J. Pierpont Morgan, Jr., New York, to Harlech, 10 December 1925, and one from Harlech to Griscom, 5 August 1927, concerning arrangements for Brogyntyn MS I.7 to be deposited temporarily in the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, for Griscom's use (ff. 112-32).

A volume containing a copy of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniæ in the vulgate text, written in small textura probably, despite some appearances, by one hand (Acton Griscom saw three or four; see Griscom (1929), p. 35) of the late thirteenth century. It was written in England or perhaps in Wales; the late use of green in the penwork and the dark shade of the blue, almost blue-green, are reminiscent of contemporary Welsh manuscripts.
Two poems in French have been added on ff. 86 verso-88. Punctuation is by point and punctus elevatus. Ink, brown. A six-line initial on f. 1 of parti-coloured red and blue, elsewhere, alternate red and blue two-line initials for chapters. All initials are accompanied by elaborate penwork, fern and foliage motifs in red and green, varying from half to full column height. The penwork is much cropped at all edges. Chapter headings (whose hand suggests that the scribe may also have been the rubricator) are in red, line-fillers in red and initials within the text touched in red. In the margin of f. 39, partly cropped, is a competent drawing of Merlin in red, apparently by the rubricator. In the margins of ff. 10 and 42 are ink profiles of faces, apparently by the scribe. Some words on f. 1 have been retraced in blacker ink.

A volume containing a collection of Welsh proverbs, arranged alphabetically, and other proverbial texts in Welsh, with accompanying translations and commentaries in Latin, compiled by and in the hand of Dr John Davies, Mallwyd. Many of the entries are illustrated by quotations from Arabic, Greek and Latin sources.
The manuscript was probably Davies's working copy, which he continually revised and enlarged during the latter years of his life. Emendations and additons were made either by rewriting whole leaves, by pasting slips over existing leaves, tipping in slips of paper, or writing in the spaces between the proverbs originally written. About 2400 proverbs are contained in the volume and, of these, Davies published just under 1600, together with the other proverbial texts, all but a few without translation or commentary, in his Dictionarium Duplex ... (London, 1632). Davies later collated his manuscript with the published text and prefixed with an 'o' those proverbs not printed. Following the practice he had adopted in his dictionary, he prefixed with an asterisk those proverbs not published prior to 1632. The manuscript later came into the hands of the antiquary William Maurice (c. 1620-1680), Cefn-y-braich, Llansilin, who compiled, [c. 1674], a preface or 'prolegomena' to the volume (pp. 6-20), comprising: a title-page incorporating Marcus Zuerius Boxhorn's title-page to the condensed edition of the Welsh-Latin section of Davies's dictionary, which the former published in Originum Gallicarum Liber ... (Amsterdam, 1654); a copy of a letter from James Howell (1594?-1666) to Ben Johnson, Kal. April 1629, which includes a poem 'Upon Dr. Davies Brittish Grammer'; an extract from Davies's preface to his grammar, Antiquæ Linguæ Britannicæ ... (London, 1621); a list of Davies's works; transcripts of the Latin and Welsh prefaces to the collection of Welsh proverbs printed at the end of his dictionary; extracts relating to these proverbs from Boxhorn's treatise; a copy of the Latin poem by Edmund Prys, archdeacon of Merioneth, which was printed as part of the preface to Davies's grammar; and an extract relating to Davies and the Welsh language from Historia Universali which Boxhorn published in Metamorphosis Anglorum ... ([Leiden], 1653). William Maurice has also added notes and comments on the text throughout the volume, including the gloss 'hoc est Proverbia Cymbro-Wallica Latinitate donata et paraphrastice explicata per Doctiss. Jo. Daviesium Malluydensem SS. Th. D.' on Davies's title 'Adagia Britannica' (p. 21), and 'Hoc Opus multijugæ Prudentiæ veterum Cymmeriorum alias Cymbrorum, fideliter transcribitur secundum Archetypum hunc Daviesianum per Guilhelmum Mauricium Cymnebraçensem nunc Lansilinensem philobritannum 1o. Maij Ano. Dni 1674' (p. 202). The manuscript was also seen by Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt, as the emendations 'Vfudd' for 'Ynfyd' and 'humilis' for the corresponding Latin 'Insipiens' in his hand on p. 202 indicate.

A volume containing a copy in a mid-seventeenth century hand of 'History of the Gwydir Family' by Sir John Wynn of Gwydir, Caernarvonshire (ff. 8-73 verso). It is an early copy of a recension of the work represented by thirteen other copies (see below).
The text is here followed by pedigrees of and memoranda relating to the Wynn family of Gwydir and its collateral branches in several late seventeenth- or early eighteenth-century hands including that of Humphrey Humphreys, bishop of Bangor, afterwards of Hereford (ff. 75 verso-6, 79 verso-80); he has also added a marginal note on f. 63. Inserted later are a receipt, 1551, and a letter, 1599/1600, in the hand of Sir John Wynn (ff. 83a, 84a-b); and two notes, 1878 and [n.d.], relating to the volume, in the hand of W. W. E. Wynne, Peniarth (ff. 86a, 87a).

A volume containing three Middle English texts: The Pricke of Conscience (ff. 1-94 verso), followed by the Trentalle sancti Gregorii (ff. 94 verso-96) and the seven penitential Psalms (ff. 96-106 verso). Lewis and McIntosh (1982), p. 33, place the dialect of our text of the Pricke in Monmouthshire, west Gloucestershire or possibly south Wales. There is comment on Book iv of the Pricke, on Purgatory, Protestant in standpoint, written in an italic hand, [16 cent., second ½] (ff. 28 verso-35 passim), but no other marginalia.
Written in anglicana formata by a single, inelegant scribe. Punctuated by point at verse ends and, in Latin text, by point and punctus elevatus. Ink brown, with greenish appearance through the parchment. The following, despite some appearances to the contrary, are probably by the scribe: (i) corrections, (ii) sidenotes in Latin, (iii) a substantial number of additional and variant verses, presumably deriving from a MS other than the exemplar, and (iv) headings, mostly in English, some long and explanatory, marked for insertion in the text and followed by the letter r (for rubric), derived perhaps from the same source as the additional and variant verses. All but (i) occur only in the text of the Pricke; (iii) and (iv) were added after (ii). The marking for rubrication suggests that our manuscript, with its additions, may have been intended to serve as the exemplar of another.

A volume, [c. 1631]-[c. 1637], containing an account of the trial of Sir Walter Raleigh (pp. 1-29) and transcripts of related letters from Raleigh (pp. 31-44), together with various political tracts (pp. 45-113) and historical tracts (pp. 119-242).
Written by five unidentified hands: hand I (pp. 1-49), hand II (pp. 53-68), hand III (pp. 73-205), hand IV (pp. 217-229) and hand V (pp. 241-242). There are also marginal notes, perhaps by hand V (see also Brogyntyn MS II.14).

A Latin version, by an unidentified translator, of a Greek treatise by Barlaamus, theologian and bishop of Gerace, Calabria, against papal primacy: 'Doctissimi Barlaami Tractatus de Primatu Papæ e Græco exemplari in Latinum conuersus, sic vt vtriusque libri singule pagine mutuo respondeant' (First line, 'Est hoc positum ab artium scientiarumque peritis, humanissime Francisco ...'; last line, '... vt tibi cum qva decet animi moderatione patienter auscultabo') (ff. 1-22 verso).
The translation is independent of that in the bilingual edition of John Lloyd, Του σοφωτατου Βαρλααμ λογοσ περι τησ του παπα αρχησ. Barlaami de Papæ principiatu libellus nunc primum græcé & latiné editus (Oxford, 1592, ESTC S112537).

Diary of Margaret Ormsby (née Owen), of Brogyntyn, containing brief entries for the years 1757-1773, apparently copied from the original journals, and referring mainly to deaths, marriages and social engagements.

A few items kept separate from the remainder of Brogyntyn MS II.38 on account of their format. They comprise a copy of J[ohn] R[alph] O[rmsby] G[ore], The Knights of St. John of Jerusalem... (London, 1838) (the autograph draft of which is in MS II.38i, ff. 22-42); two leaves from a reprinted copy of The Times, 3 October 1798 (see MS II.38i, ff. 20-21, for photocopies); and a wallet containing a few blank leaves.

A volume containing a transcript, written in the same mid-nineteenth century hand as compiled Brogyntyn MS II.40, of a 1786 copy of 'Antiquities and Memoirs of the Parish of Middle in the County of Salop', begun in 1700 by Richard Gough of Newton, Myddle, Shropshire, illustrated with additional pedigrees, coats of arms, sketches, including one of Myddle parish church in 1810 (f. 8), and maps and plans, including a plan of the arrangements of pews in Myddle parish church in 1807 (f. 6 verso) which is placed before the plans of the pews in 1701 given by Richard Gough (f. 7 recto-verso); together with a list of illustrations (f. iii) and an alphabetical index of subjects and personal names (ff. 286-288 verso).
The original manuscript, 1700-[c. 1702], is now Shrewsbury, Shropshire Archives MS 1525/1. The work was first published from an imperfect copy by Sir Thomas Phillipps under the title Human Nature Displayed in the History of Middle, by Richard Gough (Broadway: Middle Hill Press, 1834); the first faithful edition was Antiquities & Memoirs of the Parish of Myddle, County of Salop, Written by Richard Gough, A.D. 1700 (Shrewsbury, 1875). Later editions include The History of Myddle, ed. by David Hey (Penguin Books, 1981).

A volume containing a chronology, [early 18 cent.], of Biblical, classical and Saxon history, with strange combinations of letters, sometimes forming words, written above each event.

A volume containing abstracts, [late 19 cent.], of official correspondence and documents dated 1485-1645, arranged chronologically, relating to members of the Owen family of Clenennau; the original letters are to be found among the Clenennau Letters and Papers in NLW, Brogyntyn Estate and Family Records.
Tipped in is a short account, [mid-18 cent.], of 'The civil War between K. Charles 1st & his Parliament', with the note 'To be put in Manuscript cupboard, WWEW' added in pencil in the hand of W. W. E. Wynne, Peniarth (ff. 29, 30).

Two political tracts, written in the same hand, arguing the merits of the Tories over those of the Whigs at the time of the parliamentary election of 1722. In the first tract (a) the Tories and the Whigs are referred to as the Country and Court parties respectively (ff. 1-71, rectos only), and in the second tract (b) the Tories are referred to as the Church Party (ff. 73-136, rectos only). Also included is a transcript (c) in another contemporary hand of the first 28 folios of the second tract (ff. 137-140 verso).

A transcript, dated 2 January 1815, of Lord Byron's English Bards and Scotch Reviewers: A Satire (London, 1809) in the hand of Mrs Frances Morres Gore, whose signature appears on f. ii (ff. iv recto-verso, 1-61).
Laid in inside the back cover is a bifolium (watermark 1839) containing two poems in French, in an unidentified hand (ff. 68a-b).