Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 4 August 1819 (Creation)
Level of description
Item
Extent and medium
1 f. (originally folded as two leaves).
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).
Name of creator
Biographical history
Name of creator
Biographical history
Name of creator
Biographical history
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Anonymous source; Donation; December 2009; 004945068.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
A letter, 4 August 1819, from William Owen Pughe, London, to the Rev. Hugh Davies, Beaumaris, relating to Coll Gwynfa (London, 1819), Pughe's recently published translation of Milton's Paradise Lost.
Pughe quotes extracts of letters in praise of Coll Gwynfa from John Humphreys Parry (f. 23) and William Probert (f. 23 recto-verso). He also discusses the search for the so-called 'Welsh Indians' and includes a sketch of a Native-American pipe (f. 23 verso).
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
English.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Damaged, and repaired at NLW with some loss of text.
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Text
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents.
Note
Preferred citation: NLW MS 23980F, f. 23.