Fonds GB 0210 MSMOSTYN - Mostyn Manuscripts

Gwaith yr hen feirdd Gwaith prydyddawl amryw hen feirdd Cywyddau ac Awdlau Cywyddau ac Awdlau Cronicl Elis Gruffydd : Rhan I Cronicl Elis Gruffydd : Rhan II Llyfr Gwyn Corsygedol Giraldi Cambrensis Cambriae

Identity area

Reference code

GB 0210 MSMOSTYN

Title

Mostyn Manuscripts

Date(s)

  • [late 12 cent.]-[early 20 cent.] (Creation)

Level of description

Fonds

Extent and medium

77 volumes.

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

The Mostyn library at Mostyn Hall, Flintshire, held one of the foremost manuscript collections in Wales. It was founded by Sir Thomas Mostyn (d. 1618). Thomas's great-grandson Roger (1623-1690) was created a baronet in 1660 and his son Thomas (1651-1700?), second baronet, collected many of the most important books in the library. His grandson Thomas Mostyn (1704-1758), fourth baronet, also made important additions to the library at Mostyn. Over the course of time the libraries of other North Wales estates were added to that of Mostyn. The Gloddaeth estate in Caernarfonshire had belonged to the Mostyns since the fifteenth century. Sir Thomas founded a significant library there which was eventually incorporated into the Mostyn library. The fifth baronet, Sir Roger Mostyn (1734-1796), married Margaret Wynn, heiress of Bodysgallen, Caernarfonshire, which had a significant library. In 1791 she inherited the Corsygedol and Nannau estates and their libraries. The direct Mostyn line became extinct with the death of the sixth baronet in 1831, the estates passing to Sir Edward Pryce Lloyd (1768-1854), created 1st Baron Mostyn of Mostyn. The library remained intact until the twentieth century when various groups were sold off or auctioned in 1918, 1920 and 1974.

Name of creator

Biographical history

Name of creator

Archival history

NLW MSS 3021-3076 purchased from Lord Mostyn by Mr A. Cecil Wright in 1918 in order to present them to the Library.
Some of the manuscripts purchased by the National Library in 1974 were previously bought in by the Mostyn family at auction in 1920.

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

NLW MSS 3021-3076: Mr A. Cecil Wright; Donation; June 1918.
NLW MS 3020D: Messrs E.P. Goldschmidt Co. Ltd.; London; Purchase; March 1931.
NLW MSS 21238-40, 21242-6, 21247-54: Christie's (Mostyn Sale); London; Purchased at auction, lots 1476, 1480, 1495, 1501, 1504-7, 1509, 1514-6, 1521; 24 October 1974.
NLW MSS 21241E, 21247E: Purchased on behalf of NLW; October 1974.
NLW MS 21693B: Quaritch; London; Purchase; December 1980.
NLW MS 23877A: Sotheby's; London; Purchased at auction, lot 238; 13 December 2001; B2002/6.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Manuscripts, [late 12 cent.]-[early 20 cent.], formerly part of the library of the Mostyn family of Mostyn Hall, Flintshire, comprising transcripts and extracts from Giraldus Cambrensis, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Dares Phrygius, Nennius, Gildas, David Jenkins (Judge Jenkins), Sir John Wynn of Gwydir, Lydgate's 'Life of Our Lady', Leland's Itinerary, 'Chroniques de France', historical manuscripts such as Brut y Tywysiogion and Brut y Brenhinoedd, Welsh romances and the Mabinogion; collections of mainly Welsh poetry, among them the seventeenth-century volumes Llyfr Coch Nannau and Llyfr Gwyn Corsygedol, containing poems by Dafydd ap Gwilym, Guto'r Glyn, Tudur Aled, Siôn Cent and others; genealogies, pedigrees and histories; official papers relating to Caernarvonshire; catalogues of the Mostyn and Gloddaeth libraries, 1692-1842; etc.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Arranged according to NLW MSS reference numbers: NLW MSS 3020-3076, 21238-21254, 21693B, 23877A.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Access to the original manuscripts by authorised permission only. Readers are directed to use surrogate copies.

Conditions governing reproduction

Usual copyright laws apply.

Language of material

  • English
  • Latin
  • Middle French
  • Welsh

Script of material

Language and script notes

Welsh, English, Latin, Middle French.

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

NLW MSS 3021-3, 3025-44, 3046-52, 3053-61, 3064-67 are described in more detail in J. Gwenogvryn Evans, Report on Manuscripts in the Welsh Language, vol. I (London, 1898).

NLW MSS 21238-21254 are described in more detail in NLW, Catalogue of Mostyn manuscripts.

Descriptions are also available, together with a detailed list of contents, in Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume I (Aberystwyth, 1943) (NLW MSS 3020D, 3024C, 3045D, 3053D, 3062D, 3068-76 only) and Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume VIII (Aberystwyth, 1999) (NLW MSS 21238-21254).

The collection is included in the description of the manuscripts of Lord Mostyn contained in the Fourth Report of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, Part I, Report and Appendix (London, 1874), pp. 347-363.

For copies of the various library and auction catalogues, 1873-1975, relating to the Mostyn manuscripts and books see NLW ex 2858.

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

See also NLW MS 16966B (formerly Mostyn MS 227) and University of Wales, Bangor, (Bangor) Mostyn Manuscripts. Flintshire Record Office's 'Mostyn manuscripts' are Mostyn estate records.

Related descriptions

Notes area

Note

Title based on contents of fonds.

Note

NLW MSS 3021-3, 3025-44, 3046-52, 3053-61, 3064-67 (i.e. Mostyn MSS 1, 55-56, 87 (wrongly numbered 78), 88, 96, 109-117, 129-136, 143-149, 159-165, 184, 204, 211, 212 and 212b) were fully catalogued for the Historical Manuscripts Commission by J. Gwenogvryn Evans (see his Report on Manuscripts in the Welsh Language, I, i, 1898) and are not described in the NLW MSS Handlist. However, brief descriptions have been included here, with cross-references to Gwenogvryn Evans's Report.

Alternative identifier(s)

Virtua system control number

vtls004377282

GEAC system control number

(WlAbNL)0000377282

Access points

Place access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales

Rules and/or conventions used

Description follows NLW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.; AACR2; and LCSH

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

October 2005-March 2016

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

Sources

The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume I (Aberystwyth, 1943) and Volume VIII (Aberystwyth, 1999); NLW, Catalogue of Mostyn manuscripts; Dictionary of Welsh biography down to 1940 (London, 1959); Oxford Companion to the Literature of Wales, ed. by Meic Stephens (Oxford, 1986).

Archivist's note

Description compiled by Siân Medi Davies for the retrospective conversion project of NLW MSS, and revised by Bethan Ifan and Rhys M. Jones.

Accession area