The collections of the National Library of Wales include over 6.5 million printed volumes, including the first book printed in Welsh,
Yny lhyvyr hwnn (1546). In addition to the printed book collections, there are about 25,000 manuscripts in the holdings. The archival collections at the Library include the Welsh Political Archive and National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales. The Library also keeps maps, photographs, paintings, topographical and landscape prints, periodicals and newspapers. In 2010, the Peniarth Manuscript collection and
The Life Story of David Lloyd George were amongst the first ten inscriptions on the
UK Memory of the World Register, a
UNESCO record of documentary heritage of cultural significance. This has allowed the Library to collect modern Welsh, Irish and Gaelic language books for its Celtic collection. and
Copac union catalogues.
Manuscripts The National Library of Wales keeps many rare and important manuscripts, including the
Black Book of Carmarthen (the earliest surviving manuscript entirely in Welsh), the
Book of Taliesin, the
Hendregadredd Manuscript, and an early manuscript of
Geoffrey Chaucer. Around three hundred medieval manuscripts are deposited in the Library: about 100 are in Welsh. The Welsh manuscripts in these foundation collections were catalogued by Dr
J. Gwenogvryn Evans in the
Reports on manuscripts in the Welsh language that he compiled for the Historic Manuscripts Commission. Of the 561 volumes of manuscripts in the Peniarth collection, some four-fifths were collected by
Robert Vaughan (c. 1592–1667) for his library in Hengwrt, Meirioneth. • The
White Book of Rhydderch (), a composite volume that contains the earliest version of the
Mabinogion (Peniarth MS 4). • The
Chronicle of the Princes in Peniarth MS 20 () is one of the two main versions of
Brut y Tywysogion, the other being the
Red Book of Hergest, which is in the
Bodleian Library, Oxford. •
History of the Kings (Peniarth MS 23C), is a copy of
Brut y Brenhinedd, the Welsh translation of the
Historia Regum Britanniae by
Geoffrey of Monmouth. It is a rare instance of an illustrated medieval Welsh manuscript. • The
Laws of Hywel Dda (c. 1300–1350), the earliest extant text (in Latin) of native Welsh law (
Peniarth MS 28). More than 50% of the manuscripts known to contain the laws of
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). • ''Llyfr Du'r Waun'' (mid-13th century), also known as the
Black Book of Chirk, the earliest Welsh text of the laws of Hywel Dda (Peniarth MS 29). 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 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. • The 15th-century volume comprising
Disticha Catonis, the Battles of Alexander the Great, and History of the Three Kings (
Peniarth 481D), and the late 15th-century
Vaux Passional (Peniarth 482), which was prepared for
Henry VII, were acquired and deposited in the National Library by
Gwendoline and
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, both notable Italian masters of the 16th century, which is assumed to have been owned by
John Jones of Gellilyfdy (Peniarth MS 522). • 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.
Cwrtmawr Manuscripts The Cwrtmawr Manuscripts are one of the significant manuscript collections that were transferred to the National Library of Wales in the early years of its existence. They are from the personal collection of
John Humphreys Davies, who was the Principal of University College, Aberystwyth. Davies was a barrister and a keen book collector who acquired the manuscripts gradually from a number of sources. The largest group of manuscripts are those acquired from
John Jones ('Myrddin Fardd'), but there are several other substantial groups including those from a Welsh clerical family, the Richards of Darowen,
Peter Bailey Williams and his brother Rev. St George Armstrong Williams, William John Roberts ('Gwilym Cowlyd'), and
Daniel Silvan Evans.
General Manuscript Collection scene with the
Virgin Mary enthroned under a green canopy In addition to the Peniarth and Llanstephan manuscripts, the collection that Sir John Williams donated to the National Library included 500 manuscripts in the general collection (NLW MS 1–500). These manuscripts are an amalgamation of the various purchases that Sir John made between 1894 and 1899, including groups of manuscripts from the Welsh philologist Egerton Phillimore,
Sir Thomas Phillipps of Middle Hill, the Ashburn library and
Sir Edmund Buckley of Plas Dinas Mawddwy. Descriptions of 446 of these manuscripts are provided by J. H. Davies in
Additional Manuscripts in the Collections of Sir John Williams, which the Library published in 1921. • The
Black Book of Basingwerk (NLW MS 7006D) is a 15th-century manuscript containing a version of
Brut y Brenhinedd, a Welsh translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's
Historia Regum Britanniae. Particular features of interest include the medieval wooden board binding and the decorated initials embellished with gold. • The
Llywarch Reynolds Manuscripts (NLW MS 970 to 997) are the 28 volumes that Llywarch Owain Reynolds bequeathed to the Library in 1916. The most notable among them is the 17th century collection of Welsh poetry,
Llyuyr Hir Llywarch Reynolds. • The
Book of Llandaff (NLW MS 17110E), also known as
Liber Landavensis, is an ecclesiastical manuscript written between 1120 and 1140. • The
Llanbeblig Book of Hours (NLW MS 17520A) is a small manuscript book compiled around 1390. The manuscript has a number of entries in the calendar that connect it to Wales, including a celebration of the dedication of the church of Saint Peblig, Caernarfon. Isabella Godynogh (d. 1413) was possibly its original owner. The full-page miniatures, illuminated with gold, and the fine lettering indicate the value of the book. The Llanbeblig Hours is the only known illuminated manuscript that contains the iconographical Lily Crucifixion motif, and may be the earliest example of its use in any media. •
NLW MS 20143A is a manuscript of the laws of Hywel Dda written in Welsh around 1350. It is unusual in that it retains a medieval binding. • The
Tintern Abbey Bible (NLW MS 22631C) is a 13th-century Bible that has a known association with the medieval library of the Cistercian monastery at Tintern, Monmouthshire. It was purchased by the National Library for £30,000 in a
Christie's sale in December 1988 and is the second book known to have survived from the Tintern library. Groups of manuscripts in the general collection include:
Rare books There are many rare books in the National Library of Wales including the three earliest books printed in Welsh, The National Library's rare books include collections of incunabula, sixteenth-century European imprints, private press publications, bindings and scientific works. Many of the named collections of printed books include early or otherwise rare books:
Sir John Williams Collection '', 1546: attributed to Sir John Prise The Sir John Williams Collection forms the nucleus of the Library's printed books collection. The collection of approximately 23,360 volumes contains many items of importance to the history of Welsh printing, which were donated to the Library when it was established in 1907. Nineteen of the first twenty-two books published in Welsh are present, are part of Francis William Bourdillon's collection that was purchased by the Library in 1922. At least three of the incunabula acquired from Bourdillon's library are not known in any other copy: a
Quatre fils Aymon, a
Destruction de Jerusalem, and a
Vie de Ste. Catherine.
Private presses The Library has a substantial private press collection, some 1,800 volumes in total, with representative examples from all of the important British presses. a rural view, stated to be Wales, painted on a 1795 edition of Milton's
Paradise Lost bound by Edwards of Halifax, and an 1823 English-Welsh bilingual edition of
The Book of Common Prayer with a double fore-edge painting of (1) Bangor and (2) Bangor Cathedral. Other locations in Wales include Barmouth and Neath Abbey, both painted on books published during the nineteenth century. The earliest volume with a fore-edge painting owned by the Library is the 1669 Book of Common Prayer with a depiction of the Crucifixion.
The Euclid Collection The National Library's collection of works ascribed to Euclid contains more than 300 volumes, representing 270 editions, and is considered to be an important reference point for Euclidean bibliographical studies. The collection has been developed through additions to the initial thirty-nine volumes of early editions of the
Elements that
Sir Charles Thomas-Stanford donated in 1927,
Archives The National Library of Wales is home to the largest collection of archival material in Wales. These archives contain many different types of document, such as charters, estate records, correspondence, literary drafts and digital materials, which range from the medieval to contemporary periods. Many of the earlier archives are those of the landed gentry and their estates, which developed over many centuries, but these are supplemented by corporate archives including the Church of Wales archive and the archive of the Court of Great Sessions that the Library has received. The Library collects corporate archives, which are the records of institutions, societies and public bodies, and the personal archives of individuals who have played a significant role in the life of the nation. Personal archives contain a variety of material that is related to the life and work of notable individuals and families. For example, the papers of Celtic scholar
Sir Idris Foster include correspondence, personal papers, scholarly and academic notes, and papers relating to organisations and societies, such as the
Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, the University of Wales and the Church in Wales.
The Welsh Political Archive All materials concerning politics in Wales are kept in the Welsh Political Archive that the National Library established in 1983. This archive coordinates the collection of manuscript, printed and audiovisual records relating to the major political parties active in Wales, with the largest party archive being Plaid Cymru, and notable politicians including Lloyd George. The records of organisations including the Welsh National Council of the United Nations Association and the Association of Welsh Local Authorities also to be found in this archive, as are papers generated by the Parliament for Wales Campaign 1953–6, and several nationalist pressure groups. An insight into the creation of prose and poetry is provided by the letters, manuscript and typescript drafts, Dylan Thomas is the most prominent name amongst the Anglo-Welsh authors and the Library has a large collection of his papers. Other important items in the Archives of Welsh Writers in English are Raymond Williams' drafts of the novels
Border Country and
People of the Black Mountains and the papers of David Jones, which include draft copies of
In Parenthesis and
The Anathemata. The Eisteddfod is a unique institution and an important part of the literary tradition of Wales that celebrates poetry, song and the Welsh language.
Penrice and Margam Estate Records This extensive collection of estate and family records that was preserved at
Penrice Castle in the possession of Miss Talbot of Margam contains manuscript material from the twelfth to nineteenth centuries. This includes the
Margam Abbey archive which is one of the fullest surviving British monastic archives with charters from the period of the initial foundation of the Abbey at Pendar, its relocation to Margam, and the dissolution of the monastery. Along with the manuscripts are numerous seal impressions which are themselves of historic importance.
Pictures –
Dolbadarn Castle The charter of the National Library of Wales states that pictures should be collected which portray places in Wales or people of Welsh background. Images in a number of different media are collected including paintings, drawings, prints and digital formats. and examples of the work of the landscape artist
Richard Wilson, There are around 15,000 Welsh portraits in various media and a further 50,000 photographs and negatives in the Library's collection.
Photographs The Library holds a collection of more than 800,000 photographs, including the earliest-known photograph in Wales.
Maps There are over 1.5 million maps in the Library's collections. There are maps on paper, parchment, cloth, wood, metal and digital media. These formats include a range of material such as globes, manuscript items, a 15th-century woodcut print, copper printing plates, carpet-sized map of Britain and
Ordnance Survey digital data. The Ordnance Survey Maps Collection includes near-to-complete coverage for Wales, beginning with photocopies of the Ordnance Surveyor's drawings that formed the basis of the first edition of the one-inch-to-the-mile map which was published in 1818. A complete set of
tithe maps, covering almost the whole of Wales, is housed in the National Library. includes the diocesan copies of the tithe maps that were transferred to the Commission in 1920 following the
disestablishment of the Church of Wales. The Cynefin Project is digitising over 1100 tithe maps and transcribing the appointment documents to link them together. The project is planned for completion in September 2016. Other holdings in the maps collection include: manuscript estate maps, enclosure maps, estate sale catalogues, railway plans, architectural drawings, mining plans, and nautical and aeronautical charts. == Publications ==