National Library of Wales
Peniarth Manuscripts
#### Peniarth Manuscripts

[thumb\|upright\=1\.1\|[Laws of Hywel Dda](/wiki/Cyfraith_Hywel "Cyfraith Hywel") (fol. 1[v](/wiki/Recto_and_verso "Recto and verso")), King Hywel](/wiki/File:Laws_of_Hywel_Dda_%28f.1.v%29_King_Hywel.jpg "Laws of Hywel Dda (f.1.v) King Hywel.jpg")
[thumb\|upright\=1\.1\|[Hengwrt Chaucer](/wiki/Hengwrt_Chaucer "Hengwrt Chaucer")](/wiki/File:HengwrtChaucerOpening.jpg "HengwrtChaucerOpening.jpg")
[thumb\|upright\=1\.1\|Vaux Passional (fol. 9r). In the first miniature the sovereign (King Henry VII) is presented with this book while the infant Henry VIII (upper left) mourns the death of his mother.](/wiki/File:Vaux_Passional._Henry_VIII_%28f.9%29.jpg "Vaux Passional. Henry VIII (f.9).jpg")
The [Peniarth Manuscripts collection](/wiki/Peniarth_Manuscripts "Peniarth Manuscripts") is considered to be of global significance and the most important collection of manuscripts in the National Library of Wales. In 2010, it was included in the UK Memory of the World Register of documentary heritage. Of the 561 volumes of manuscripts in the Peniarth collection, some four\-fifths were collected by [Robert Vaughan](/wiki/Robert_Vaughan_%28antiquary%29 "Robert Vaughan (antiquary)") (c. 1592–1667\) for his library in Hengwrt, Meirioneth. Three of the [Four Ancient Books of Wales](/wiki/Four_Ancient_Books_of_Wales "Four Ancient Books of Wales") are part of the Peniarth collection, and this is indicative of the overall quality of the manuscripts and their importance as part of Welsh heritage. There are, however, also manuscripts in Cornish, Latin and English that are themselves noteworthy. The collection includes:
* The [Black Book of Carmarthen](/wiki/Black_Book_of_Carmarthen "Black Book of Carmarthen") (), the earliest manuscript in Welsh (Peniarth MS 1\).
* The [Book of Taliesin](/wiki/Book_of_Taliesin "Book of Taliesin") (c. 1350–1400\) contains the oldest Welsh verse by the sixth\-century poet Taliesin (Peniarth MS 2\).
* The [White Book of Rhydderch](/wiki/White_Book_of_Rhydderch "White Book of Rhydderch") (), a composite volume that contains the earliest version of the *[Mabinogion](/wiki/Mabinogion "Mabinogion")* (Peniarth MS 4\).
* The earliest fragments of *Branwen and Manawydan* and two fragments of *Geraint ap Erbin* comprise the four parts of [Peniarth MS 6](/wiki/Peniarth_6 "Peniarth 6").
* *Ystoryaeu Seint Greal* (Tales of the Holy Grail), transcribed by Hywel Fychan around the year 1300, is the finest in a series of Romance manuscripts. A letter addressed to [Lady Charlotte Guest](/wiki/Lady_Charlotte_Guest "Lady Charlotte Guest") concerning access to this text to have it copied is loose inside the volume (Peniarth MS 11\).
* The [*Chronicle of the Princes*](/wiki/Peniarth_20 "Peniarth 20") in Peniarth MS 20 () is one of the two main versions of *[Brut y Tywysogion](/wiki/Brut_y_Tywysogion "Brut y Tywysogion")*, the other being the *[Red Book of Hergest](/wiki/Red_Book_of_Hergest "Red Book of Hergest")*, which is in the [Bodleian Library](/wiki/Bodleian_Library "Bodleian Library"), Oxford.
* [*History of the Kings*](/wiki/History_of_the_Kings_%28Peniarth_23C%29 "History of the Kings (Peniarth 23C)") (Peniarth MS 23C), is a copy of *[Brut y Brenhinedd](/wiki/Brut_y_Brenhinedd "Brut y Brenhinedd")*, the Welsh translation of the *[Historia Regum Britanniae](/wiki/Historia_Regum_Britanniae "Historia Regum Britanniae")* by [Geoffrey of Monmouth](/wiki/Geoffrey_of_Monmouth "Geoffrey of Monmouth"). It is a rare instance of an illustrated medieval Welsh manuscript.
* The [Laws of Hywel Dda](/wiki/Cyfraith_Hywel%23Manuscripts "Cyfraith Hywel#Manuscripts") (c. 1300–1350\), the earliest extant text (in Latin) of native Welsh law ([Peniarth MS 28](/wiki/Peniarth_28 "Peniarth 28")). More than 50% of the manuscripts known to contain the laws of [Hywel Dda](/wiki/Hywel_Dda "Hywel Dda") are in the collections of the National Library, with the majority being in the Peniarth Collection (see the list of [Welsh Law manuscripts](/wiki/A_list_of_Welsh_Law_manuscripts "A list of Welsh Law manuscripts")).
* *Llyfr Du'r Waun* (mid\-13th century), also known as the [Black Book of Chirk](/wiki/Black_Book_of_Chirk "Black Book of Chirk"), the earliest Welsh text of the laws of Hywel Dda (Peniarth MS 29\).
* [Peniarth 32](/wiki/Peniarth_32 "Peniarth 32") is a 15th\-century volume of the laws of Hywel Dda.
* The [Peniarth 51](/wiki/Peniarth_51 "Peniarth 51") manuscript contains poetry, Welsh grammar, vocabularies, and historical triads that was written, mostly in the hand of [Gwilym Tew](/wiki/Gwilym_Tew "Gwilym Tew"), during the second half of the 15th century.
* *Barddoniaeth Hywel Dafi* (c. 1483–1500\), a volume of poetry most by and possibly in the hand of Howel Davi. Other poets included in this volume are Bedo Brwynllys, Dafydd Llwyd, Llywelyn ap Morgan, Dafydd ap Gwilym and Ieuan ap Howel. The assumption that this manuscript was written by Howel Davi is challenged by evidence, such as slips of the pen that occur in poems of Davi's composition, that suggest the scribe was copying these poems. With the exception of two sections (42 and 43\), which are an attempt at transcription by an unskilled hand, the entire manuscript appears to be the work of one scribe (Peniarth MS 67\).
* *[Beunans Meriasek](/wiki/Beunans_Meriasek "Beunans Meriasek")* (The Life of St [Meriasek](/wiki/Meriasek "Meriasek")) (1504\), the earliest surviving manuscript in the [Cornish language](/wiki/Cornish_language "Cornish language") (Peniarth MS 105B). It is believed to have been completed in 1504 by Radolphus Ton, who was a canon during the final efflorescence of [Cornish literature](/wiki/Cornish_literature "Cornish literature") at [Glasney College](/wiki/Glasney_College "Glasney College"), Penryn. This play, which is set in [Camborne](/wiki/Camborne "Camborne"), is a celebration of the life and work of [St Meriasek](/wiki/St_Meriasek "St Meriasek") that depicts the cultural links between [Cornwall](/wiki/Cornwall "Cornwall") and [Brittany](/wiki/Brittany "Brittany"). *Beunans Meriasek* was rediscovered by W. W. E. Wynne in the 1860s among the volumes from the Hengwrt Library that had been bequeathed to him in 1859\. It is the most important extant Cornish manuscript.
* *Cywyddau* and other poems, written in the hand of [Lewys Glyn Cothi](/wiki/Lewys_Glyn_Cothi "Lewys Glyn Cothi"), comprise the manuscript [Peniarth 109](/wiki/Peniarth_109 "Peniarth 109").
* *[Esboniadau ar Gyfraith Hywel Dda](/wiki/Peniarth_164 "Peniarth 164")* (Peniarth MS 164\), is a volume of commentaries on the Laws of Hywel Dda from the early 15th century.
* [Peniarth Manuscript 259B](/wiki/Peniarth_259B "Peniarth 259B") is a version of the Laws of Hywel Dda from the mid\-16th century.
* The [Hengwrt Chaucer](/wiki/Hengwrt_Chaucer "Hengwrt Chaucer") (c. 1400–1410\), a folio volume of *[The Canterbury Tales](/wiki/The_Canterbury_Tales "The Canterbury Tales")*, sometimes attributed to the scribe [Adam Pinkhurst](/wiki/Adam_Pinkhurst "Adam Pinkhurst"). One of the treasures of the National Library of Wales and by far the most important of the Peniarth Manuscripts in English (Peniarth MS 392D).
* The 15th\-century volume comprising *Disticha Catonis*, the Battles of Alexander the Great, and History of the Three Kings ([Peniarth 481D](/wiki/Peniarth_481 "Peniarth 481")), and the late 15th\-century *[Vaux Passional](/wiki/Vaux_Passional "Vaux Passional")* (Peniarth 482\), which was prepared for [Henry VII](/wiki/Henry_VII_of_England "Henry VII of England"), were acquired and deposited in the National Library by [Gwendoline](/wiki/Gwendoline_Davies "Gwendoline Davies") and [Margaret Davies](/wiki/Margaret_Davies "Margaret Davies") in 1921\. These two fine illuminated manuscripts were retained by W. R. M. Wynne when he sold the Peniarth Manuscripts to Sir John Williams.
* A bound volume containing books by Giovanni Battista Palatino and [Ugo da Carpi](/wiki/Ugo_da_Carpi "Ugo da Carpi"), both notable Italian masters of the 16th century, which is assumed to have been owned by [John Jones of Gellilyfdy](/wiki/John_Jones_of_Gellilyfdy "John Jones of Gellilyfdy") (Peniarth MS 522\).
* [Bede](/wiki/Bede "Bede")'s [*De natura rerum*](/wiki/De_natura_rerum_%28Bede%29 "De natura rerum (Bede)") (12th century), a copy of the scientific treatise in Latin that is believed to have been written in Wales. Contains decorative initials, including three that have a zoomorphic design similar to those found in Irish manuscripts from this time (Peniarth MS 540B).
* Over forty manuscripts in the hand of John Jones of Gellilyfdy, embellished with initial capital letters and head\- and tailpieces that demonstrate his calligraphic talent.


Why are we predisposed to use that power unwisely?