Varying forms of title: Book of Llandaff; Llyfr Llandaf.
Title based on contents. The manuscript was primarily associated with Saint Teilo for many years, but the term Liber Landavensis was used by John Selden in the seventeenth century and has become the accepted title.
Formerly Gwysaney MS 1.
The covers of the manuscript were removed at NLW in 2006 in order to facilitate digitisation of the complete text, and they have been kept separately since then; the manuscript was re-bound with new covers in 2007. Full details are given at the appropriate level of description.
Preferred citation: NLW MS 17110i-iiiE.
Published
Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales
The Gospel of St Matthew and a compilation, [c. 1120]-[c. 1133], of copies of charters, saints' Lives and other records and literary material relating to the medieval diocese of Llandaf. The text of the earliest charters appears to date from c. 500, and additions have been made up to c. 1619, but the bulk of the historical, legal and hagiographical material was copied and compiled under the auspices of bishop Urban (consecrated in 1107), with the purpose of using the historical and legal record to provide his newly-styled diocese of Llandaf with antecedents that would assist his efforts to convince the papacy of the ancient primacy of the bishopric over its neighbours, Hereford and St Davids, and also to define its position in relation to the metropolitan claims of Canterbury.
Arranged at NLW into 3 items: Manuscript; Old Covers; and Associated Letters and Notes.
Item: 1.1 Manuscript Volume (NLW MS 17110E). Action: Condition reviewed. Action identifier: 5787935. Date: 20060911. Authorization: Selected for conservation. Authorizing institution: NLW. Action agent: J. Thomas. Status: Manuscript Volume (NLW MS 17110E) : Staining caused by mould, British Museum repaired paper gives reading of pH5, gelatine glue penetration between leaves, binding in good condition, some original edges of damaged parchment/vellum leaves pared by knife. Institution: WlAbNL.
Item: 1.2 Manuscript Volume (NLW MS 17110E). Action: Conserved. Action identifier: 5787935. Date: 20061115. Authorizing institution: NLW. Action agent: J. Thomas. Status: Manuscript Volume (NLW MF 17110E) : Disbound, removed old repairs of paper, flatten, repair for digitisation. Institution: WlAbNL.
Item: 1.3 Manuscript Volume (NLW MS 17110E). Action: Condition reviewed. Action identifier: 5787935. Date: 20070122. Authorization: Selected for conservation. Authorizing institution: NLW. Action agent: J. Thomas. Status: Manuscript Volume (NLW MS 17110E) : Oak boards and leather spine forming case, manuscript removed for repair, digitisation and rebinding, manuscript last rebound with new leather spine in British Museum in late C19th. Institution: WlAbNL.
Item: 1.4 Manuscript Volume (NLW MS 17110E). Action: Conserved. Action identifier: 5787935. Date: 20070126. Authorizing institution: NLW. Action agent: E. Pugh. Status: Manuscript Volume (NLW MF 17110E) : Made false book block and attached to case. Institution: WlAbNL.
Item: 1.5 Manuscript Volume (NLW MS 17110E). Action: Condition reviewed. Action identifier: 5787935. Date: 20070530. Authorization: Selected for conservation. Authorizing institution: NLW. Action agent: J. Thomas. Status: Manuscript Volume (NLW MS 17110E) : Gilded bronze figure and oak covers with rebacked goatskin spine, false book block of paper provided by NLW within covers. Institution: WlAbNL.
Item: 1.6 Manuscript Volume (NLW MS 17110E). Action: Conserved. Action identifier: 5787935. Date: 20070807. Authorizing institution: NLW. Action agent: E. Pugh. Status: Manuscript Volume (NLW MF 17110E) : Attached gilded figure with brass nuts and bolts, made foam lined box and lettered spine in gold. Institution: WlAbNL.
Item: 1.7 Manuscript Volume (NLW MS 17110E). Action: Condition reviewed. Action identifier: 5787935. Date: 20100924. Authorization: Selected for conservation. Authorizing institution: NLW. Action agent: J. Thomas. Status: Manuscript Volume (NLW MS 17110E) : Make drop back box. Institution: WlAbNL.
Item: 1.8 Manuscript Volume (NLW MS 17110E). Action: Conserved. Action identifier: 5787935. Date: 20070807. Authorizing institution: NLW. Action agent: E. Pugh. Status: Manuscript Volume (NLW MF 17110E) : Drop back box made. Institution: WlAbNL.
The manuscript appears to have been created at the cathedral church of Llandaf, and it was kept there for several centuries, probably in the Bishop's Palace. Then, in 1619x1627, bishop Theophilus Field lent it to the antiquarian John Selden, who bequeathed his library to the 'publique library at Oxford' [the Bodleian] on his death in 1654. Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt applied to John Vaughan of Trawsgoed, one of Selden's executors, for the loan of the manuscript in February 1655, and he finally obtained it in 1659; it seems that by this time an assumption had been made that the manuscript no longer belonged to the diocese of Llandaf. Subsequently, the manuscript was acquired by the antiquary Robert Davies (1658-1710) of Llannerch and later Gwysaney in Flintshire, through his marriage to Letitia, a grand-daughter of John Vaughan of Trawsgoed; his book-plate is inside the upper cover. The manuscript remained at Gwysaney and passed by marriage to the family of Philip Tatton Davies-Cooke, who deposited it at NLW in 1942. The Library purchased it from the family in 1959.
Description compiled by David Moore, drawing on the work of Daniel Huws.
Digital version available http://hdl.handle.net/10107/4388358 (May 2016)
Digital version available https://www.library.wales/discover-learn/digital-exhibitions/manuscripts/the-middle-ages/the-book-of-llandaff
Access to the original manuscript by authorised permission only. Readers are directed to use surrogate copies.
A detailed account of the construction and content of the manuscript is given in Daniel Huws, 'The making of Liber Landavensis', in idem, Medieval Welsh manuscripts (Cardiff and Aberystwyth, 2000), 123-157.
Uniform title: Bible.
Title based on contents.
Incipit: 'Evangeliu[m] s[an]cti mathei ev[a]ngeliste' (f. 5).
Secundo folio: 'stella eius in oriente et venimus adorare eu[m]' (f. 6).
Collation: 1(4), 2(8), 3(8), 4(8), 5(8), 6(11) irregular composition and lacks 12-14, 7(8), 8(9) f. 63 inserted, 9(8), 10(8), 11(8), 12(10), 13(9) f. 102 inserted, 14(6) lacks 6-7, 15(5) f. 114 inserted and ff. 115-118 all on guards, 16(8) (f. 127 is a singleton).
Foliation: foliated in pencil in 1980 i-iii, 1-127, 128-129; ff. i-iii and 128-9 are modern paper flyleaves, with a medieval parchment flyleaf guarded on f. iii; ff. 1-4 and 127 are leaves from other medieval manuscripts reused as flyleaves, perhaps 15 cent.; quires 3-15 (ff. 13-118) were foliated [9]-120 in the top right-hand corner c. 1476; ff. 5-12 (quire 2) were numbered 1-8 by a hand of 15 or 16 cent.; the medieval foliation points to the loss of three leaves after f. 47, the loss of two leaves somewhere between ff. 54 and 57 and the loss of one leaf between ff. 111 and 114; where the corners of leaves are defective, a hand of 16 or 17 cent. has here and there tried to make good the medieval foliation, incorrectly on ff. 57-58 and probably on f. 56; another hand of the same period has made good the foliation on ff. 29-31; ff. 29-113 (quires 5-14) are foliated 1-85 in the lower right-hand corner by another hand of 16 or 17 cent. (not later than 1612); Gwenogvryn Evans continued this foliation from f. 114 to the end; ff. 119-126 (quire 16) are paginated 1-16 by a hand of perhaps 17 cent.; a faint pencil foliation of 19 or 20 cent. in the top right-hand corners begins with f. iii and omits f. 43, and coincides with the 1980 foliation from f. 44; column numbers 1-367 were written by Gwenogvryn Evans from f. 29 to f. 126 verso. A concordance of the significant foliations and column numbers is given by Daniel Huws in idem, Medieval Welsh manuscripts, 127.
Written space: quire 1 (ff. 1-4) c. 290 x c. 290 mm. in two columns of c. 70 lines; quire 2 (ff. 5-12) 245 x 160 mm. in two columns of 34 lines; quires 3-14 (ff. 13-113) 245 x 160 mm. in two columns, normally of 35 lines; quire 15 (ff. 114-118) c. 260 x 180 mm., c. 40 long lines; quire 16 (ff. 119-126) 195 x 130 mm., 47 long lines.
Script: Written in a textualis rotunda in two main hands: hand A, ff. 48-112 verso, and hand B, ff. 29-47 verso, 50 verso-51; some additions, glosses and corrections written in English cursive book script (ff. 114 verso, 115, 116-118, 119-127 verso), English cursive documentary (ff. i-iv verso, 113-114 verso, 115, 115 verso, 118 recto-verso) and secretary hand (f. 118 verso) in other hands, 12 and 13 cent.; many marginal annotations, 15 and 16 cent., in many hands. For the identification and classification of the hands, and a comparison with the schema adopted by Gwenogvryn Evans, see Daniel Huws in idem, Medieval Welsh manuscripts, 134-143, 150-154.
Images: a considerable number of manicules throughout, mostly probably [1476x1478] by David Llewelyn, treasurer of Llandaf; representations of papal seals on ff. 38 verso, 42 (both Honorius II) and 55 (Calixtus II); and a number of later pen-trials.
Ink: all hands dark brown, except for hands Pb and Pc (ff. 115 verso-117 verso, and parts of ff. 115, 118 and 118 verso), which are light brown, and hands O (part of f. 115) and Q (parts of f. 118 recto and verso), which are black. Rubrics by the same hands in red, notably by hand B (ff. 29-111); for details of the rubrication, see Daniel Huws in idem, Medieval Welsh manuscripts, 143-44.
Charters: this concordance is intended to aid readers of Wendy Davies, The Llandaff Charters, in locating digital images of the charters on the NLW website. Locations are given in the following format : charter number according to the number of the first page on which it appears in Gwenogvryn Evans's edition/(charter number in consecutive order in the manuscript [in brackets])/folio number(s) in the manuscript : 72a/(1)/f. 49 ; 72b/(2)/f. 49 recto-verso ; 73a/(3)/f. 49 verso ; 73b/(4)/f. 49 verso ; 74/(5)/ff. 49 verso-50 ; 75/(6)/f. 50 ; 76a/(7)/f. 50 ; 76b/(8)/f. 50 recto-verso ; 77/(9)/ff. 50 verso-51 ; 121/(10)/f. 64 ; 122/(11)/f. 64 recto-verso ; 123/(12)/ff. 64 verso-65 ; 125a/(13)/f. 65 ; 125b/(14)/f. 65 recto-verso ; 127a/(15)/f. 65 verso ; 127b/(16)/ff. 65 verso-66 verso ; 140/(17)/f. 69 verso ; 141/(18)/ff. 69 verso-70 verso ; 143/(19)/f. 70 verso ; 144/(20)/ff. 70 verso-71 ; 145/(21)/f. 71 ; 146/(22)/f. 71 recto-verso ; 147/(23)/ff. 71 verso-72 ; 148/(24)/f. 72 ; 149/(25)/f. 72 ; 150a/(26)/f. 72 recto-verso ; 150b/(27)/f. 72 verso ; 151a/(28)/f. 72 verso ; 151b/(29)/f. 72 verso ; 152/(30)/f. 73 recto-verso ; 154/(31)/f. 73 verso ; 155/(32)/ff. 73 verso-74 ; 156/(33)/f. 74 ; 157/(34)/f. 74 recto-verso ; 158/(35)/ff. 74 verso-75 ; 159a/(36)/f. 75 ; 159b/(37)/f. 75 ; 160/(38)/f. 75 recto-verso ; 161/(39)/f. 75 verso ; 162a/(40)/ff. 75 verso-76 ; 162b/(41)/f. 76 ; 163a/(42)/f. 76 ; 163b/(43)/f. 76 recto-verso ; 164/(44)/f. 76 verso ; 165/(45)/ff. 76 verso-77 ; 166/(46)/f. 77 ; 167/(47)/f. 77 recto-verso ; 168/(48)/ff. 77 verso-78 ; 169a/(49)/f. 78 ; 169b/(50)/f. 78 ; 170/(51)/f. 78 recto-verso ; 171a/(52)/f. 78 verso ; 171b/(53)/ff. 78 verso-79 ; 173/(54)/f. 79 recto-verso ; 174a/(55)/f. 79 verso ; 174b/(56)/ff. 79 verso-80 ; 175/(57)/f. 80 ; 176a/(58)/f. 80 ; 176b/(59)/f. 80 recto-verso ; 178/(60)/ff. 80 verso-81 ; 179a/(61)/f. 81 ; 179b/(62)/f. 81 ; 179c/(63)/f. 81 ; 180a/(64)/f. 81 recto-verso ; 180b/(65)/ff. 81 verso-82 ; 183a/(66)/f. 82 ; 183b/(67)/f. 82 recto-verso ; 184/(68)/f. 82 verso ; 185/(69)/ff. 82 verso-83 ; 186a/(70)/f. 83 ; 186b/(71)/f. 83 ; 187/(72)/f. 83 recto-verso ; 188a/(73)/f. 83 verso ; 188b/(74)/f. 83 verso ; 189/(75)/ff. 83 verso-84 ; 190a/(76)/f. 84 ; 190b/(77)/f. 84 recto-verso ; 191/(78)/f. 84 verso ; 192/(79)/ff. 84 verso-85 ; 193/(80)/f. 85 recto-verso ; 195/(81)/ff. 85 verso-86 ; 196/(82)/f. 86 recto-verso ; 197/(83)/f. 86 verso ; 198a/(84)/f. 86 verso ; 198b/(85)/ff. 86 verso-87 ; 199a/(86)/f. 87 ; 199b/(87)/f. 87 ; 200/(88)/f. 87 recto-verso ; 201/(89)/f. 87 verso ; 202/(90)/ff. 87 verso-88 ; 203a/(91)/f. 88 ; 203b/(92)/f. 88 recto-verso ; 204a/(93)/f. 88 verso ; 204b/(94)/f. 88 verso ; 205/(95)/ff. 88 verso-89 ; 206/(96)/f. 89 recto-verso ; 207/(97)/f. 89 verso ; 208/(98)/f. 89 verso ; 209a/(99)/ff. 89 verso-90 ; 209b/(100)/f. 90 ; 210a/(101)/f. 90 ; 210b/(102)/f. 90 verso ; 211a/(103)/f. 90 verso ; 211b/(104)/f. 90 verso ; 212/(105)/ff. 90 verso-91verso ; 214/(106)/ff. 91 verso-92 ; 216a/(107)/f. 92 ; 216b/(108)/f. 92 recto-verso ; 217/(109)/ff. 92 verso-93 ; 218/(110)/ff. 93-94 ; 221/(111)/f. 94 ; 222/(112)/f. 94 recto-verso ; 223/(113)/f. 94 verso ; 224/(114)/ff. 94 verso-95 ; 225/(115)/f. 95 recto-verso ; 226/(116)/f. 95 verso ; 227a/(117)/f. 95 verso ; 227b/(118)/95 verso-96 ; 228/(119)/f. 96 ; 229a/(120)/f. 96 recto-verso ; 229b/(121)/f. 96 verso ; 230a/(122)/f. 96 verso ; 230b/(123)/ff. 96 verso-97 ; 231/(124)/f. 97 ; 232a/(125)/f. 97 recto-verso ; 232b/(126)/f. 97 verso ; 233/(127)/ff. 97 verso-98 ; 234/(128)/f. 98 ; 235a/(129)/f. 98 ; 235b/(130)/f. 98 recto-verso ; 236/(131)/f. 98 verso ; 237a/(132)/ff. 98 verso-99 ; 237b/(133)/f. 99 recto-verso ; 239/(134)/f. 99 verso ; 240/(135)/f. 100 recto-verso ; 243/(136)/ff. 100 verso-101 ; 244/(137)/f. 101 recto-verso ; 245/(138)/f. 101 verso ; 246/(139)/f. 102 recto-verso ; 249a/(140)/f. 102 verso ; 249b/(141)/ff. 102 verso-103 ; 251/(142)/f. 103 recto-verso ; 253/(143)/ff. 103 verso-104 verso ; 255/(144)/ff. 104 verso-105 ; 257/(145)/f. 105 recto-verso ; 258/(146)/f. 105 verso ; 259/(147)/ff. 105 verso-106 ; 260/(148)/f. 106 recto-verso ; 261/(149)/f. 106 verso ; 262/(150)/ff. 106 verso-107 ; 263/(151)/f. 107 recto-verso ; 264a/(152)/f. 107 verso ; 264b/(153)/ff. 107 verso-108 ; 267/(154)/ff. 108 verso-109 ; 269/(155)/f. 109 recto-verso ; 271/(156)/f. 110 recto-verso ; 272/(157)/f. 110 verso ; 274/(158)/ff. 111–112 verso.
Layout: quires 3-14 are ruled by hard point, always on the hair side; quires 1, 2, 15 and 16 are ruled in plummet; hands A, B, C, Y and Z all punctuated by point and punctus elevatus; no catchwords.
Preferred citation: NLW MS 17110iE.
Published
Contents in full (Latin unless otherwise specified): [ff. i-ii blank]; a fragment of unidentified text, largely illegible, probably patristic (f. iii); part of a quodlibet of Simon of Faversham (ff. 1-4 verso [flyleaves]); the Gospel according to St Matthew, from the Vulgate (ff. 5-28); [f. 28 verso blank]; the Life of Elgar the Hermit (f. 29); the Life of St Samson of Dol (ff. 29 verso - 36); a description of the city of Rome, and the titles of the cardinals (f. 36 verso); an account of the pontificate of pope Eleutherius (f. 36 verso); agreement between Robert, earl of Gloucester, and bishop Urban of Llandaf, 1126 (f. 37 recto-verso); papal letters and privileges of pope Honorius II (ff. 37 verso - 42 verso); exhortation of cardinal John of Crema in support of the diocese of Llandaf (f. 43); summons of William, archbishop of Canterbury, to a Council of London, summoned by John of Crema, papal legate, and the statutes of the Council (ff. 43-44 recto); two accounts of bishop Urban's first and second journeys to Rome in 1128 and 1129 (f. 44); papal letters of Honorius II and Innocent II (ff. 44-47 verso); an account of the foundation of Llandaf (ff. 48-49); charters of St Dyfrig (ff. 49-51); the Life of St Dubricius (Dyfrig) (ff. 51-53 verso); letter of Ralph, archbishop of Canterbury, granting an indulgence to those who would assist the church of Llandaf (f. 53 verso); letter of bishop Urban to pope Calixtus II (ff. 53 verso - 54); an account of bishop Urban's activities at the Council of Rheims in 1119 (f. 54); solemn privilege and papal letters of Calixtus II (ff. 54 verso - 56); Canons of the Council of Rheims (f. 56); the Life of St Teliau (Teilo) (ff. 56 verso - 62 verso); the privilege of St Teilo, in Latin (f. 63 recto-verso) and Welsh (f. 63 verso); charters of St Teilo (ff. 64-66 verso); the Life of St Oudoceus (Euddogwy) (ff. 66 verso - 69 verso); charters of St Euddogwy (ff. 69 verso - 75); charters and notes on episcopal successions up to the election of bishop Urban in 1107 (ff. 75-112 verso); the consecration of bishop Herewald (f. 108r-v); confirmation by Morgan Hen (f. 102 recto-verso); 'Omnipotens sempiterne deus ...', a collect for the Feast of St Teilo (f. 113); 'landauen' in tantum ...', dues of the archdeaconry of Llandaf (f. 113); 'Hec beneficia collata sunt Landauensi ecclesie per Henricum landauensem episcopum' (f. 113 verso); 'Nomina regum Britannie ...' to 1199 (f. 113 verso); 'Hec sunt estimaciones ecclesiarum commune landauensi ...', in a late 13 cent. hand (f. 113 verso); transcripts of papal bulls, added in a number of mid 12 cent. hands (f. 114); '[Eleutherius na]tione grecus ...' (f. 114 verso); 'Sub Innocentio ... heresis' (f. 114 verso); 'Memorandum ... monstarunt', dated 1332 (f. 114 verso); 'Pater noster ...' (f. 114 verso); 'Om[nibus] ... Pauli', dated 1245 (f. 115); 'V[niuersis] ... Knaytha et multis aliis' (f. 115); 'Carta Johannis de Hybernia', dated 1328 (f. 115); 'La Newlonde', extracts from the Exchequer of Pleas, 1304-1305 (f. 115 verso); 'In villa Wintonensi ... in episcopos' (f. 115 verso); 'Nos auctoritate ... assignamus', possibly referring to the consecration of Nicholas Ashby, 1441 (f. 115 verso); forms of oath of bishop and canons (f. 116 recto-verso); statutes of bishops William de Braose, 1275, John of Monmouth, 1323, John of Eglesclif, 1326, and John Paschal, 1354 (ff. 116 verso - 117 verso); names of the bishops of Llandaf from Dubricius to John Paschal, consecrated 1344, with a continuation to Theophilus Field, consecrated 1619 (f. 118 recto-verso); various memoranda relating to the diocese of Llandaf, including forms of oaths as on f. 116 (f. 119), statutes as on ff. 116 verso - 117 verso excepting those of John Paschal (ff. 119-120), a list of bishops to John Paschal with later additions to Nicholas Ashby (f. 120), 'Nomina episcoporum qui fuerunt in Ecclesia Landauensi ... Fet a rembrer ke en le tens de ces xl Eueskes ... MoCCCoxlviio. Et obiit apud' (ff. 120 verso - 121 verso), 'De procuracionibus annuis debitis domino Episcopo Landauensi ...' (f. 122 recto-verso), 'Synodalia debita' (ff. 122 verso - 124 verso), 'Nomina prebendarum' (f. 124 verso), 'Decima ad opus domini pape vel domini regis Anglie' (ff. 125-126) and 'Que beneficia ecclesiastica spectant ad collacionem Episcopi Landauensis' (f. 126 verso); and a leaf from a collection of decretal letters of pope Alexander III, mostly addressed to English bishops, and interspersed some of Gregory I and one canon of the third Lateran Council of 1179 (f. 127 recto-verso [flyleaf]); [ff. 128-129 verso blank]. For a fully detailed list of the contents of the manuscript, see Daniel Huws in idem, Medieval Welsh manuscripts, 146-150.
A few leaves have original holes and flaws in the parchment. The outer edges of some leaves have been damaged by damp and rodents, with some loss of text on ff. 1-2, 113-118 and 126. During the 1892 re-binding, starch adhesive was applied, resulting in some cockling where the parchment was already badly mould-softened; also, the original spine folds of the gatherings were cut off at that time, resulting in the loss of some marginalia. Repairs to the parchment were undertaken in 1892, and also before that; remedial action on these repairs was carried out at NLW before the 2007 re-binding, together with new repairs of tears and edge damage on some leaves.
Digital version available http://hdl.handle.net/10107/4388358 (May 2014)
Online version available on the Library's website https://www.library.wales/discover-learn/digital-exhibitions/manuscripts/the-middle-ages/the-book-of-llandaff (May 2014)
A microfilm negative of this manuscript is NLW Film 247 (NM 3), filmed in 1981. A further negative copy is NM 95. No film positives at NLW.
Photostat facsimiles of this manuscript, [20 cent.], are NLW MS 7000E and NLW Facs 1091.
NLW Peniarth MS 275D is a transcript of this manuscript, made by Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt, 1660.
The charters are calendared in Wendy Davies, An Early Welsh Microcosm: Studies in the Llandaff Charters (London, 1978), pp. 164-188, and idem, The Llandaff Charters (Aberystwyth, 1979), pp. 90-130; and the documents relating to the papal courts are calendared in John Reuben Davies, The Book of Llandaff and the Norman Church in Wales (Woodbridge, 2003), pp. 153-159. A list of the contents of the manuscript may be found in Daniel Huws, Medieval Welsh Manuscripts (Cardiff and Aberystwyth, 2000), pp. 146-150.
A printed edition of the text of ff. 29-126 verso, first published in 1893, is J. Gwenogvryn Evans, The Text of the Book of Llan Dav (facsimile edition; reprinted Aberystwyth, 1979), and detailed accounts of the content and context of the text may be found in Wendy Davies, An Early Welsh Microcosm: Studies in the Llandaff Charters (London, 1978); idem, The Llandaff Charters (Aberystwyth, 1979); and John Reuben Davies, The Book of Llandaff and the Norman Church in Wales (Woodbridge, 2003).
Title based on contents.
Preferred citation: NLW MS 17110iiE.
Published
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.
Title based on contents.
Preferred citation: NLW MS 17110iiiE.
Published
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.