Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [late 15 cent.]-[early 16 cent.] (Creation)
Level of description
File
Extent and medium
117 ff. (foliated i-iv, 1-62, 62b, 63-82, 82b, 83-85, 85b, 86-106, 106b, and continued 107-109; f. 106b is an old binding fragment (marked C); ff. i-ii, iv, 107-109 are modern Japanese vellum endpapers) : Parchment ; 223 x 158 mm. and less.
Bound in library-style binding, in full vellum, at NLW in 1951. Previous calf binding mentioned by Gwenogvryn Evans no longer extant. Four leaves from the previous binding are now kept apart from the volume, identified by Daniel Huws as two bifolia from a psalter of the 12 cent., possibly produced in north Wales. Lettered ff. A-E and D-E, they contain A, psalms 93.16-95.5; B, psalms 100.4-101.15; D, psalms 110.1-112.5; and E, psalm 118.84-118.109.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Archival history
The scribe's colophon in red on f. 106 verso is illegible due to a thick coating of gall: 'Iste liber constat wy ...' (as noted also by Gwenogvryn Evans in 1899). Marginal notes were added to the manuscript during the 16th century, together with the more substantial 'per me Hugh ap dd. ap gwillim' (f. 60 verso) and 'Gruffinus Davyes est possessor huius libri de facto' (f. 106b). On f. 106b verso is ‘llyfr Robert Vaughan or Hengwrt yn Sir Feirionydd yw hwnn Teste Guilielmo Mauricio Lansilinens.’
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
A late 15th century, or early 16th century copy, of Brut y Brenhinedd, the Welsh translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (ff. 1-107 verso). The manuscript was written on thick parchment by one scribe, probably in north Wales, following an exemplar associated with, if not partly derived from, the early 14th century Peniarth MS 21.
For recent discussions of the text, see Brynley F. Roberts (ed.), Brut y Brenhinedd: Llanstephan MS 1 Version (Dublin, 1971), and Brynley F. Roberts, 'Geoffrey of Monmouth, Histora Regum Britanniae and Brut y Brenhinedd' in Rachel Bromwich, A.O.H. Jarman and Brynley F. Roberts (eds), The Arthur of the Welsh. The Arthurian Legend in Medieval Welsh Literature (Cardiff, 1991), 97-116.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Item: 1.1 Manuscript Volume (Peniarth MS 23C). Action: Condition reviewed. Action identifier: 4440979. Date: 20101104. Authorization: Selected for conservation. Authorizing institution: NLW. Action agent: J. Thomas. Status: Manuscript Volume (Peniarth MS 23C) : One end of endband detached. Institution: WlAbNL.
Item: 1.2 Manuscript Volume (Peniarth MS 23C). Action: Conserved. Action identifier: 4440979. Date: 20101210. Authorizing institution: NLW. Action agent: J. Jenkins. Status: Manuscript Volume (Peniarth MS 23C) : Reattached loose end of endband. Institution: WlAbNL.
Item: 2.1. Action: Digitized. Action identifier: Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI). Date: 20140811. Site of action: NLW. Authorization: NLW. Authorizing institution: Bill Endres of the University of Kentucky. Extent: ff. 36v, 75v, 106v. Type of unit: Folios.
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Access to the original manuscript by authorised permission only. Readers are directed to use surrogate copies.
Conditions governing reproduction
Usual copyright laws apply.
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Welsh.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Top outer corners of leaves eaten by rodents (with some minor loss of text), possibly at Hengwrt during the second half of the 18th century. Leaves repaired, probably during rebinding at NLW in 1951, using Japanese vellum.
Finding aids
A description of the manuscript may be found in J. Gwenogvryn Evans, Report on Manuscripts in the Welsh Language, vol. I (London, 1898-1905), 349-50.
Generated finding aid
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Digital version available http://hdl.handle.net/10107/4396654 (September 2018)
Available on microfilm at the Library.
Related units of description
Publication note
Brynley F. Roberts, 'Astudiaeth destunol o'r tri chyfieithiad Cymraeg cynharaf o Historia Regum Britanniae Sieffre o Fynwy, ynghyd ag 'argraffiad' beirniadol o destun Peniarth 44' (unpublished University of Wales PhD thesis, 1969).
Notes area
Note
Formerly Hengwrt MS 313.
Note
Title based on contents.
Note
Incipit: 'Eneas gwedi ymladd [ ... ] a distriw ygaer ac sga[ ... ]us i vab gyd ac ef addo[ ... ]ant ar longeu ...' (f. 1).
Note
Explicit: 'Explicit liber coronacionis Britanorum' (f. 106 verso).
Note
The scribe, or contemporary illustrator, has decorated the text with large red sectional initials, elaborate ascenders and descenders (some with illustrations of human and canine heads), and 57 crude illustrations, in green, red, white and yellow pigments, of the kings and queens mentioned in the text, together with scenes of the Nativity (f. 36 verso) and Crucifixion (f. 38).
Note
The illustrations of kings and queens are of: Aeneas (f. 1), Brutus (f. 10), Locrinus (f. 11 verso), Gwenddolau (f. 13), Madog (f. 13), Mebyr (f. 13), Efrog (f. 13 verso), Brutus Tarian Las and Lleon Gawr (f. 14), Rhun Baladr Fras (f. 14 verso), Bleiddud (f. 14 verso), Llŷr (f. 15), Cordeilla ferch Lŷr (f. 17 verso), Morgan and Cunedda (f. 18), Rhiwallon (f. 18 verso), Fervex and Porex (f. 18 verso), Dyfnwal Moelmud (f. 19), Beli and Brân (f. 20), Gwrgant Farfdrwch (f. 24), Cuhelyn (f. 24 verso), Morudd (f. 25), Gorfyniawn (f. 25 verso), Arthal (f. 25 verso), Owain and Peredur (f. 26 verso), Elidir War (f. 27), Beli Mawr fab Mynogan (f. 27 verso), Llefelys (f. 28), Caswallon fab Beli (f. 31), Tenefan fab Lludd (f. 36), Cynfelyn (f. 36 verso), Gwydr (f. 36 verso), Gweirydd (f. 37), Meurig fab Gweirydd (f. 39), Coel (f. 39 verso), Lles fab Coel (f. 39 verso), Severus (f. 41), Vassianus (f. 41 verso), Carawn (f. 42), Asclepitotus (f. 43), Coel (f. 43 verso), Constantius (f. 44), Cystennin fab Elen (f. 44), Macsen Wledig (f. 46), Cystennin Fendigaid (f. 51 verso), Constans (f. 52 verso), Gwrtheyrn (f. 54), Gwrtheyrn Gwrthenau and Myrddin (f. 61), Emrys Wledig (f. 66), Uthr Bendragon (f. 72), Arthur (f. 75 verso), Cystennin fab Cadwr (f. 95 verso), Cynan Wledig (f. 96), Gorthefyr (f. 96), Maelgwn Gwynedd (f. 96 verso), Ceredig (f. 96 verso), Cadfan fab Iago (f. 99), Cadwallon fab Cadfan (f. 99 verso), and Cadwaladr Fendigaid (f. 104 verso).
Note
Collation: 1-13 (8), 14 (6) wants 6.
Note
Catchwords in scroll on ff. 8 verso, 16 verso, 24 verso, 32 verso, 40 verso, 48 verso, 49 verso, 56 verso, 63 verso, 71 verso, 79 verso, 85b verso, 93 verso, 101 verso.
Note
Preferred citation: Peniarth MS 23 [RESTRICTED ACCESS].
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Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
November 2010.
Language(s)
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Sources
Archivist's note
Description compiled by Maredudd ap Huw.
Digital object metadata
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Image
Mime-type
image/jpeg