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Manuscripts, [c. 1120]-[1942x1959], formerly part of the library of the Davies-Cooke family at Gwysaney, Mold, consisting mainly of family papers and manuscripts in Welsh or of Welsh interest.
The manuscripts include the Liber Landavensis (Book of Llandaff), [c. 1120]-[c. 1133]; volumes of Welsh pedigrees, [16 cent.], and Welsh poetry, [16 cent.]; Richard Davies's translation into Welsh of St Paul's Pastoral Epistles, [1546x1563]-[1567x1581]; a manuscript of the Brut in English, [1460x1479]; sermons, [17 cent.]-1811; inventories, catalogues and schedules relating to books, deeds and other property at Oulton, Owston, Llannerch and Gwysaney, 1750/1-1801; a travel journal of Bryan Cooke, 1790-1797, and journals of continental tours by Phillip Davies Cooke, 1815-1824; records of dues for the parish of Mold, 1581-1590; rentals and accounts of the Llannerch and Gwysaney estates, 1730-1843; surveys of the Llannerch and Gwysaney estates, [18 cent.]-[early 19 cent.]; valuations of part of the Gwysaney estate in Flintshire, 1809; pedigree rolls, 1604-1771, of the Davies, Puleston, Humphreys (of Bodelwyddan) and Meredith (of Allington) families; and several groups of letters, including transcripts and memoranda, and other papers, relating to the Puleston, Davies, Cooke, Davies-Cooke and other families, [1487x1503]-1901.

Oak covers, formerly covered with a thin layer of silver-plate, of which only two small pieces remain. The lower cover is the only remaining part of the pre-1696 binding, and is probably original; cut into it is a sunken panel 283 x 187 mm., with a chamfered edge stopped on the inside by a bead; in the centre of the panel, originally attached by three rivets, is a gilt-bronze (copper-alloy) image of Christ in Majesty 171 x 114 x 300 mm., which was made in England, 13 cent.; it has replaced an earlier ornament, probably also a Christ in Majesty, and has been associated with the volume since at least 1659, and probably since the late medieval period. The upper cover was replaced by Robert Davies when he had the volume re-bound in 1696 (an inscription in the sunken panel reads 'Librum hunc temporis injurias passum novantiquo tegmine muniri curavit / R.D. / Ao 1696'); the marks of use suggest that it is of considerably older origin. The manuscript was re-bound, 15 or 16 cent., and again at the British Museum in 1892. It was unbound again at NLW in 2006, and the old covers were then considered unsuitable for re-housing the manuscript. For exhibition purposes, the 1892 case-binding with its oak boards has been placed on a false book-block of paper, coloured to replicate the original.

Ministers' accounts of the Chamberlain of Chester for the counties of Cheshire, Flintshire and Denbighshire.

A collection of cywyddau and other Welsh poems, [16 cent.].

Copy of the 'Historia Brittonum' of Nennius.
A copy of this manuscript in the hand of Ieuan Fardd is now NLW MS 2020iB.

An illustrated account of the Tower on the Garreg Mountain, Whitford, Flintshire, by Thomas Hughes, written after 1897.

A poem entitled 'Epistle to the Lady Charlotte Rawdon from the Banks of the St Lawrence' by Thomas Moore.

Valuation, 1809, by Charles Macniven, of part of the Gwysaney estate lying in Flintshire.

Valuation, 1809, by Charles Macniven, of part of the Gwysaney estate lying in Flintshire.

Letters, documents and papers, 1624-[c. 1703], relating to the family of Davies of Gwysaney, including: five letters (including one from Henry Salusburye of Lleweny) to Robert Davies [II] of Gwysaney, 1624-1629; a copy of a deed of sale of the manor and lordship of Ewloe, Flintshire, dated 10 May 1632; papers re. the protest made to the bishop of St Asaph by the parishioners of Nerquis and Treythin, near Mold, in 1640 concerning the lack of divine service in their churches; a warrant from Prince Rupert to Robert Davies [III] of Gwysaney as High Sheriff of Flint to deliver monies collected for the King's service, 1644; appointment by Charles I of Thomas Davies as Colonel of a regiment of Foot and Dragoons in Denbighshire and Flintshire, 1643; a letter from John Owen, bishop of St Asaph, to Robert Davies; memorandum touching the conveyance of the advowson of Owston, Yorkshire, to Henry Cooke, 1702; copy of a conveyance of properties in Brynford, Flintshire (original dated 1363), etc.

Memoranda of letters written by John Davies of Llannerch to various correspondents, 14 July 1769-19 March 1771.

A volume containing some one hundred and two letters and other papers, [1487x1503]-1895, many relating to the Davies, Cooke and Davies-Cooke families of Gwysaney, Owston and Llanerch and relatives such as the Earl of Kingston, with other letters apparently collected as examples of autographs. Also included are items such as engravings, photographs and cuttings relating to some of the correspondents, 1788-1900; some items are accompanied by biographical notes, [19 cent., third ¼].
The papers include the Earl and Countess of Kingston's invitation to Queen Victoria's Coronation, 1838 (ff. 1-2), a sign manual of Henry VII, [1487x1503], thanking John Pillesdon [Puleston] (f. 5), two warrants of Henry VIII, 1538 (ff. 5 verso-6), an acquittance signed by Geo: Asapher: [George Griffith, Bishop of St Asaph], 1664 (f. 24) and two receipts relating to Théodore de Bèze and François Bonivard, 1554, 1575 (f. 53; French). Other correspondents include William, Duke of Clarence [later William IV], 1828 (f. 7), Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, 1805-1825 (ff. 9-11), Mary, Duchess of Gloucester, [1827x1857] (f. 13), Princess Elizabeth of Hesse Homberg, [1810x1827] (f. 15), Princess Sophia Matilda, [1810x1827] (f. 17), Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, 1808-1824 (ff. 18, 29), Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, 1809-1810 (ff. 20-21), J[ohn Egerton, 1st Earl of] Bridgewater, 1638 (f. 22), Cardinal Consalvi, Rome, 1818-1819 (ff. 25-27; letters and passports to Bryan Cooke, in Italian), George IV [two signatures only] (f. 28), Baron Atthalin, Aide de Camp to the Duc d’Orleans, 1820 (f. 30; French), F[rançois] d'Orléans, [prince de Joinville], 1843 (f. 32; French), General G. H. Dufour, Berne, 1851 (f. 33; French), E[dward] B[ulwer] L[ytton] (f. 34), [5th Duke of] Richmond, Goodwood, 1847 (f. 34), Pope Pius IX [signature only], [?1859] (f. 34), Spencer Perceval, Downing Street, 1810 (f. 35), Eleanor Butler and [Sarah] Ponsonby, [the Ladies of Llangollen], 1785, 1791 (ff. 35 verso-36), [René-Eustache, marquis d']Osmond, 1816-[1821] (ff. 37, 39 verso-40; French), [11th Duke of] Norfolk, [?1790s] (f. 38), W. E. Gladstone, 1852 (f. 38 verso), [Benjamin] Disraeli, Downing Street, 1868 (f. 39), [Viscount] Palmerston, 1810 (ff. 41 verso-42), [Viscount] Kingsborough, 1834 (f. 43), William Wilberforce, 1798, 1801 (ff. 43 verso-44), Warren Hastings, 1807 (f. 45), Thomas Telford, 1829 (f. 47), Sir John Sinclair, 1816 (f. 48), Francis Chantrey, 1820-1834 (ff. 48 verso-51), [Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of] Westminster, 1852 (f. 53 verso), Sir Robert Peel, [2nd bart], 1836 (f. 56 verso), George Canning [signature only], 1797 (f. 58 verso), M[artin] F[arquhar] Tupper, [1860] (f. 59 verso), W[illiam] Spence, 1850 (f. 60), [Professor] John Phillips, York, 1853 (f. 62), H[umphry] Repton, 1796 (f. 64), Jos[eph] Sabine, 1827, 1828 (f. 65), John Franks, Calcutta, 1832 (f. 66), R[amsay] R[ichard] Reinagle, 1828, 1829 (f. 67) and Gathorne Hardy, 1867 (f. 68). The main recipients include Captain Thomas Davies, 1638 (f. 22), Bryan Cooke, [?1790s]-1821 (ff. 25-27, 38, 40, 42, 43 verso-44, 46, 50 verso, 56 verso, 58, 64), Philip Davies Cooke, 1820-1852 (ff. 30, 34, 37, 38 verso, 48 verso-51, 53 verso, 55, 56 verso-57, 60 verso-62, 65, 67), and his father-in-law George King, 3rd Earl of Kingston, 1815-1838 (ff. 2, 7, 9-11, 18, 29, 35, 56, 57 verso, 63, 65).

A volume containing some seventy-eight letters, 1796-1901, mostly relating to the Davies-Cooke family of Gwysaney and Owston, with a few apparently collected as examples of autographs, together with miscellaneous other papers, 1790-[late 19 cent.], and engravings and photographic reproductions of paintings, 1832-[late 19 cent.].
The correspondents include G[iovanni] B[attist]a Niccolini, 1841 (f. 1), Thomas V[owler Short, Bishop of] St Asaph, 1849, 1852 (f. 2), [Stapleton Cotton, 1st Baron] Combermere, Dublin, 1825 (f. 3), [Frederick Lygon, 6th Earl] Beauchamp, 1875 (f. 4), [George Osborne, 6th Duke of] Leeds, Milan, 1821 (f. 6), [Sir] G[eorge] O[nesiphorus] Paul, 1800 (ff. 7, 11), Thomas Pennant, 1796 (f. 8), W[illiam] D[avies] Shipley, 1800 (f. 9), [Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount] Melville, Admiralty, 1814 (ff. 11, 33), [James Hewitt, 4th Viscount] Lifford, 1874 (f. 13), R. R. Reinagle, 1828 (ff. 13, 14, 15), C[harles] Duncombe, 1819 (f. 14), P. F. Robinson, [?1833] (f. 15), [Charles William Wentworth Fitzwilliam, 5th Earl] Fitzwilliam, 1843, 1852 (ff. 16, 18), [John Mitford, 1st Baron] Redesdale, 22 August 1817 (f. 16), C. L. Ebor [Charles Longley, Archbishop of York], 1860 (f. 17), [George Nugent, 1st Marquis of] Westmeath, Chester, 1852 (f. 18), W. Ebor [Archbishop William Thomson], York, 1864 (f. 20), Tho[ma]s Worsley, Cambridge, 1867 (f. 21), [Thomas Littleton Powys, 4th Baron] Lilford, 1862 (f. 24), George Müller, Bristol, 1852 (f. 25), S[usan, Duchess of] Marlborough, [n.d.] (ff. 26, 29), [Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquis of] Westminster, 1837 (f. 26), [Charles Wood, 1st Viscount] Halifax, 1880 (f. 27), [Frederick Temple Blackwood, 1st Marquess of] Dufferin [and Ava], [n.d.] (f. 27), Richard Owen, 1858 (f. 29), [Charles John Shore, 2nd Baron] Teignmouth, 1838 (f. 30), [George Venables-Vernon, 5th Baron] Vernon, Geneva, 1842 (f. 30), W[illiam] Gregory, Dublin Castle, 1821 (f. 33), E. Maunde Thompson, 1881 (f. 34; concerning Barnabe Fitzpatrick), [George, 2nd Baron] Kenyon, 1804-1814 (ff. 37-38, 46), [Charles Grant, 1st Baron] Glenelg, Colonial Office, 1836 (f. 40), T[homas] Gaisford, Ch[rist] Ch[urch], 1849 (f. 42), [Robert Stewart, Viscount] Castlereagh, Dublin Castle, 1800 (f. 43), and [Edward King, Viscount] Kingsborough, 1811 (f. 44). The main recipients are Bryan Cooke, 1800-1821 (ff. 6-40 passim), Philip Davies Cooke, 1828-1853 (ff. 2-42 passim), and Philip's brother W. B. Cooke, 1827-1842 (f. 1, 21, 25, 30), father-in-law George King, 3rd Earl of Kingston, 1800-1826 (ff. 3, 11, 12, 33, 43), and son Philip Bryan Davies-Cooke, 1860-1901 (ff. 4, 17, 20, 23, 24, 27, 29, 31, 34). Other items in the volume include Bryan Cooke's passport, 1818 (f. 19), miscellaneous notes, copy letters and documents, etc., 1797-[?late 19 cent.] (ff. 24, 32, 34-36, 61) and printed items, 1790-1889 (ff. 31, 39, 59-60).

Letters, 1891-1893, from J. Gwenogfryn [sic] Evans to Philip Bryan Davies-Cooke, the owner of Liber Landavensis, concerning the 1893 edition and publication of the manuscript, its critical reception, and a special copy on vellum for Mrs Gwenogvryn Evans, as well as conservation work on the manuscript at the British Museum; together with notes on Liber Landavensis compiled at NLW, 1912 and [1942x1959], and an offprint from a Report of the Historical Manuscripts Commission relating to the Gwysaney library.