Manuscripts

Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, Peniarth MS 12 Llyfr Hugh Evans

Welsh, English, Latin
s. xiv–xvii
composite manuscript
Welsh manuscripts
paper + vellum

A composite Welsh manuscript compiled, perhaps in the 1580s, by one Hugh Evans.

Identifiers

Location

Wales Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales

Collection: GB 0210 MSPENIARTH: Peniarth manuscripts

Shelfmark

Peniarth 12

Classification

Hengwrt collection, 202

Title

Llyfr Hugh Evans

Type

manuscript miscellanies religious literature

Provenance and related aspects

Language

Welsh, English, Latin

Date

s. xiv–xvii

This is composite manuscript containing material from different dates, ranging from the 14th century all the way to the 16th-17th centuries.

Origin, provenance

Origin: ass. with Evans (Hugh) [Denbighshire clergyman, fl. 16th c.]

Evans (Hugh) ... Denbighshire clergyman, fl. 16th c.

(fl. 1550s–d. 1587)

A clergyman active in Denbighshire. Evans was born ca. 1523 in Wales. He graduated at Brasenose College in Oxford in 1548-9 and took his MA there in 1553. He held a prebendary at St Paul’s cathedral in 1558. In 1560 he moved to north Wales, where he became dean of St Asaph, Denbighshire (1560-1587); sinecure rector of Cwm, Flintshire (1566-1574); vicar of Northop, Flintshire (1571-1577); and vicar of Henllan, Denbighshire (1582-d.1587). Evans died on 17 December 1587, aged 64 (Marx 2015). It has been suggested (O'Rourke 2003) that he may well have been the same Hugh Evans who was responsible for compiling the composite manuscript NLW Peniarth MS 12.

See more The compiler is Hugh Evans, who has been identified as a clergyman of this name who was active in Denbighshire.

Hands, scribes

Hands indexed:

Hugh Evans? Hugh Evans [Denbighshire clergyman, fl. 16th c.]Evans (Hugh) ... Denbighshire clergyman, fl. 16th c.
(fl. 1550s–d. 1587)
A clergyman active in Denbighshire. Evans was born ca. 1523 in Wales. He graduated at Brasenose College in Oxford in 1548-9 and took his MA there in 1553. He held a prebendary at St Paul’s cathedral in 1558. In 1560 he moved to north Wales, where he became dean of St Asaph, Denbighshire (1560-1587); sinecure rector of Cwm, Flintshire (1566-1574); vicar of Northop, Flintshire (1571-1577); and vicar of Henllan, Denbighshire (1582-d.1587). Evans died on 17 December 1587, aged 64 (Marx 2015). It has been suggested (O'Rourke 2003) that he may well have been the same Hugh Evans who was responsible for compiling the composite manuscript NLW Peniarth MS 12.
See more

Codicological information

UnitCodicological unit. Indicates whether the entry describes a single leaf, a distinct or composite manuscript, etc.

composite manuscript

Material

paper + vellum

It is composed out of paper quires, with the addition of two vellum quires.

Dimensions

9.75 ″ × 7 ″

Foliation

2 ff. (ff. iii-iv) + 81 ff. (ff. 1-81) + 6 ff. (ff. 82-87)

Collation

162 pages with 8 vellum folia (some placed at the beginning of the manuscript and some at the end)

Binding

Enclosed in 19th century binding, which, in turn, encloses a 15th-century binding.

ff. iii-iv: front binding, 15th century, parchment, Latin liturgical texts.
ff. 82-87: back binding, 15th century, parchment, Latin liturgical texts and (ff. 86r-87v) Middle English Instructions on preparing for death

Palaeographical information

Layout

The text is written in a single collumn with 27 lines per page.

Distinct units

ff. [ii]r-[iv]r

Aberystwyth, National Lib… ff. ii-iv, 82-87

See ff. 82-87 below. These leaves were transferred from the ending of the MS to be used as flyleaves.

ff. 1r-11v

Aberystwyth, National Lib… ff. 1-11

An English version of the Elucidarium. Incomplete.

ff. 12r-38v

Paper leaves containing the beginning of the Ystoria Lucidar, a Welsh version of the Elucidarium. This and the end of the text on ff. 67-73 were supplied by Hugh Evans to complete the 14th-century fragment on ff. 39-58. Evans’s hand continues into the top margin of f. 39r and resumes on f. 58v.

ff. 39r-58v

Aberystwyth, National Lib… ff. 39-58 [s. xiv^ex/xvⁱⁿ]

Two quires containing an incomplete text of the Ystoria Lucidar in the hand of Hywel Fychan, with later additions by Hugh Evans at the beginning and end of the text. The leaves have been identified as deriving from Llanstephan MS 27 (Red Book of Talgarth).

ff. 59-66

The section formerly occupying ff. 59-66 in this manuscript is a fragment of the White Book of Rhydderch. It was restored to its original position in the 1940s. According to O'Rourke, its insertion in the present MS is likely to postdate Evans’ compilation of the MS.

ff. 67-81

Paper leaves in the hand of Hugh Evans. Incl. ending of the Ystoria Lucidar (ff. 67r-73r); other items, incl. an Apostle’s Creed in Latin, two Welsh texts of a Lord’s prayer and Welsh instructional texts.

ff. 80-81

Aberystwyth, National Lib… ff. 80-81

Paper fragment of a Welsh catechism. O'Rourke regards this section as being in Hugh Evans’s hand, but the Welsh prose, 1300–1425 website attributes it instead to a hand of the 16th or 17th century.

ff. 82r-87v

Aberystwyth, National Lib… ff. ii-iv, 82-87

Missal, Commendatio animae. Three leaves were transferred to the beginning of the manuscript (ff. ii-iv) to serve as front flyleaves.

Table of contents

Legend

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Locus

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f. 23ra.34: meaning folio 23 recto, first column, line 34
f. 96vb.m: meaning folio 96, verso, second column, middle of the page (s = top, m = middle, i = bottom)
- Note that marg. = marginalia, while m = middle.
p. 67b.23: meaning page 67, second column, line 23

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Welsh manuscripts