Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1806 / (Creation)
Level of description
File
Extent and medium
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
William Owen-Pughe was born in Llanfihangel-y-Pennant, Merioneth and brought up in a farmhouse called Egryn in Ardudwy. He moved to London in 1776, where he committed himself to the London Welsh community, becoming a member of both the Gwyneddigion Society and the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion. He was made a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and corresponded with many scholarly figures of his day. Like his contemporary 'Iolo Morganwg', who greatly influenced him, Pughe held somewhat idiosyncratic ideas concerning the Welsh language and its origins. His own literary output, however, was prolific and included lexicographical works such as A Grammar of the Welsh Language and A Welsh and English Dictionary (both 1803) and translations such as Coll Gwynfa (1819), a Welsh rendering of Milton's 'Paradise Lost'. He was also principal editor of The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales (1801-1807) and the short-lived periodical Y Greal (1805-1807) and was a regular contributor to the newspapers and magazine publications of his day. Pughe conducted a close relationship with the writer and prophet Joanna Southcott from around 1803 until her death in 1814. Pughe's son Aneurin Owen was a historical scholar who received much of his early education from his father. He edited Ancient Laws and Institutes of Wales; comprising the Laws ... by Howel the Good ... (London, 1841) and was also a major, though unacknowledged, contributor to the prodigious chronicle Brut y Tywysogion (1860).
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
A holograph manuscript of part (signature B) of an unpublished Welsh translation of the text of 'Cydymholiad' or a catechism, together with directions to the printer, dated 19 June, 1806, by W. Owen [-Pughe]. The text covers four large folio leaves, and is divided into thirty pages 'marked page for page as it is in the English edition'. Signature A, to be sent to the printer thereafter, contained the title, preface, and table of contents. The directions to the printer contains also rules 'for dividing words at the end of lines'.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- Welsh
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Welsh, English.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
The description is also available in Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Part XIX, 276.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents.
Note
Preferred citation: NLW MS 10955F.
Alternative identifier(s)
Virtua system control number
Access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Description follows NLW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.; AACR2; and LCSH
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
November 2008.
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
Description compiled by Bethan Ifans for the retrospective conversion project of NLW MSS. The following source was used in the compilation of this description: Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume III (Aberystwyth, 1961);