Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [16 cent.]-[early 20 cent.] (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
101 volumes.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Thomas Pennant, naturalist, antiquary and traveller, was born on the Downing estate in Flintshire. He was educated at Wrexham and London before entering Queen's College, Oxford aged eighteen. Thomas developed a love of the natural world at school and began travelling whilst at Oxford; in the following years he travelled widely throughout Britain and Europe. The Outlines of the Globe was Thomas's most ambitious literary project. The work originally took up twenty-two volumes but only four of these were published - two by Pennant himself and two by his son, David.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Archival history
NLW MSS 12706-12720: Formerly housed at Downing Hall, co. Flint. They were purchased for the National Library of Wales in 1938, when part of the library of the earl of Denbigh at Newnham Paddox, co. Warwick, was offered for sale. They had probably been removed from Downing Hall subsequent to the marriage in 1846 of Louisa (1828-1853), daughter of David Pennant, junior (1796-1835), and great-grand-daughter of Thomas Pennant, to Rudolph William Basil Feilding, aft. 8th earl of Denbigh.
NLW MSS 23412-23415: Remained in the possession of the heirs of the Downing estate in Flintshire (the Fielding family) until 1938, when they were sold, together with numerous other of Pennant's manuscripts and books, by Christie's of London.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
NLW MSS 2521-2598: Earl and Countess of Denbigh; Purchase; 1912.
NLW MSS 4877-4880: Purchase; 1922/3 (originally separated from the main group).
NLW MSS 12706-12720: Christie's; London; Purchase; July 1938.
NLW MSS 23412-23415: Maggs Bros Ltd; London; Purchase; 1993 (Transferred from NLW Department of Printed Books to NLW Department of Manuscripts and Records in 1995).
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Papers, [16 cent.]-[early 20 cent.], mainly of Thomas Pennant and his son, David, and comprising accounts of tours in Britain and Europe; geographical, topographical and historical notes and transcripts, as well as notes on natural history; accounts of David Pennant; correspondence of Thomas and David Pennant; annotated printed works of Thomas Pennant, including copies, with manuscript and other additions and related papers, of Outlines of the Globe, a work in four volumes by Thomas Pennant published between 1798 and 1800; and papers relating to the Downing estate and to Flintshire.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Arranged according to NLW MSS reference numbers: NLW MSS 2521-2598, 4877-4880, 12706-12720, 23412-23415.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Usual copyright laws apply.
Language of material
- Breton
- English
- Estonian
- French
- German
- Italian
- Latin
- Spanish
- Welsh
Script of material
Language and script notes
English, Latin, French, Welsh, Breton, Estonian, German, Italian, Spanish.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
The descriptions are also available in the Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume I (Aberystwyth, 1943), Volume II (Aberystwyth, 1951), and Volume IV (Aberystwyth, 1971); NLW MSS 22853-23691 are indexed in greater detail in Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, vol. 9 (Aberystwyth, 2003).
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents of fonds.
Note
NLW MSS 2521-2598, 4877-4880 formerly known as Pennant 1-82; NLW MSS 12706-12720 formerly known as Pennant[-Feilding] 1-15.
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
GEAC system control number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Pennant, Thomas, 1726-1798 -- Archives. (Subject)
- Pennant, David, 1763-1841 -- Archives. (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
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-February 2010.
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); Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume II (Aberystwyth, 1951); Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume IX (Aberystwyth, 2003).
Archivist's note
Description compiled by Siân Medi Davies for the retrospective conversion project of NLW MSS, and revised by Bethan Ifans.