Manuscripts

Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, MS 24029A Boston manuscript

Welsh
s. xiv/xv
Welsh manuscripts
vellum

Welsh lawbook of the Blegywryd redaction, previously kept in the private collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston.

General
Texts

Identifiers

Location

Wales Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales

Shelfmark

24029A

Classification

Massachussetts Historical Society manuscript collections, 5

Previously in the private collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston, where it was catalogued as MS 5.

Previously 101.23 and 10.13.

Title

Boston manuscript

Provenance and related aspects

Language

Welsh

Date

s. xiv/xv

14th/15th century

Origin, provenance

Later provenance: ass. with Philipps (William) [of Brecon, d. 1686]Philipps (William) ... of Brecon, d. 1686

Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

See more Philipps (William) [of Brecon, d. 1721]Philipps (William) ... of Brecon, d. 1721

Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

See more Lhuyd (Edward)

Lhuyd (Edward)

(d. 1709)

No short description available

See more Wotton (William)

Wotton (William)

(1666–1727)

English cleric and scholar, known for having produced a text and Latin translation of the Cyfraith Hywel (published, posthumously, in 1730).

See more Williams (Moses)

Williams (Moses)

(1685–1742)

Welsh scholar, antiquarian and clergyman.

See more Scourfield familyScourfield family

Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

In the 17th century, the manuscript was in the possession of the antiquary William Philipps of Brecon, on whose death in 1686 it passed to his son William (d. 1721). It was this William who was happy to make the MS available to several scholars: to Edward Lhuyd, who foliated the leaves; to William Wotton, who drew on it for an edition of the Welsh laws; and in the 1720s, to Moses Williams, who had it transcribed (Llanstephan MS 75). Philipps’ library passed to his daughter Anne and her husband William Scourfield.

Later provenance: Boston, Massachusetts Historical Society

Boston, Massachusetts Historical Society

No short description available

See more ass. with Scourfield familyScourfield family

Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

See more By 1831, the MS had surfaced in Boston, in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society. There is no record of its existence in the intervening period but it is assumed that the MS had crossed the Atlantic through Morris Scourfield, a descendant at one remove or another who emigrated from Pembrokeshire to Pennsylvania. The MS remained in the collection of the Society until 2012.

Later provenance: Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales

Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales

Cardiganshire

No short description available

See more In July 2012, the present manuscript was purchased by the National Library of Wales.⁽²⁾^{n. 2} Link.

Hands, scribes

Exemplars

A photostat facsimile of the present MS, which was created in 1937, is Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, MS 11125A.

Codicological information

Material

vellum

The list below has been collated from the table of contents, if available on this page,Progress in this area is being made piecemeal. Full and partial tables of contents are available for a small number of manuscripts. and incoming annotations for individual texts (again, if available).Whenever catalogue entries about texts are annotated with information about particular manuscript witnesses, these manuscripts can be queried for the texts that are linked to them.

Welsh manuscripts

Sources

Notes

^1.

Link.

^2.

Link.

Primary sources This section typically includes references to diplomatic editions, facsimiles and photographic reproductions, notably digital image archives, of at least a major portion of the manuscript. For editions of individual texts, see their separate entries.

[dig. img.] National Library of Wales, National Library of Wales: archives and manuscripts, Online: NLW, ?–present. URL: <https://archives.library.wales>.

Previously Digital Mirror / Drych Digidol (www.llyfrgell.cymru/darganfod/oriel-ddigidol, later www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=digitalmirror), the digital library of the National Library of Wales gives access to digitised manuscripts, printed works, archival materials and other media.

direct link

[dipl. ed.] Thomas, Peter Wynn [ed.], D. Mark Smith, and Diana Luft [transcribers and encoders], Welsh prose (Rhyddiaith Gymraeg) 1300–1425, Online: Cardiff University, 2007–present. URL: <http://www.rhyddiaithganoloesol.caerdydd.ac.uk>.

direct link

Secondary sources (select)

De Ricci, Seymour, and W. J. Wilson, Census of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in the United States and Canada, 2 vols, Reprint ed., New York: Kraus, 1961.

[id. 5.]

Owen, Morfydd E., “Llawysgrif gyfreithiol goll”, Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies 22 (1966–1968): 338–343.

Cyfraith-hywel.cymru.ac.uk: <link>