‘ . . . learned yet approachable . . . Huws’s
marvellous book is a unique, masterly guide.’ (Times Literary Supplement)pp xvi352 July 2000 Reprint under consideration December 2002 hardback
0-7083-1602-6
‘ . . . learned yet approachable . . . Huws’s
marvellous book is a unique, masterly guide.’ (Times Literary Supplement)
‘ . . . a wealth of scholarship. . . As a milestone in the study of Welsh palaeography the volume is both an essential book of reference and a readable and attractive introduction to the field of Welsh Medieval manuscripts for Celticists and medievalists alike. It is likely to remain an authoritative and indispensable work in its field for years to come. . . ’ (Arthuriana)
‘ . . . a user-friendly collection of papers providing the best available guide to the difficult subject of Welsh palaeography. The author has been well served by his publisher with 36 sharp MS plates . . . Daniel Huws has an encyclopaedic knowledge of individual Welsh scribes. He has transformed our way of looking at Welsh manuscripts.’ (English Historical Review)
“Both the general reader and the scholar will find a wealth of scholarship within these pages. As a milestone in the study of Welsh palaeography, the volume is both an essential book of reference and a readable and attractive introduction to the field of Welsh medieval manuscripts for Celicists and medievalists alike. It is likely to remain an authoritative and indispensable work in its field for years to come, and provides a tantalizing foretaste of what is yet to be anticipated from Daniel Huws” Arthuriana
‘This substantial volume brings together a group of studies that reflect the author’s expertise and erudition in equal measure. They range widely but they cohere in their subject-matter, and Daniel Huw’s cross-referencing and the index that he has prepared with great care facilitates the reader’s access to a body of work which makes a significant contribution to progress in a field at the very heart of scholarly study of medieval literary culture.’ Studia Celtica
‘Scholars of Welsh language and literature will be delighted to have in one volume the articles on Welsh-language manuscripts, such as those on the White Book of Rhydderch and on the transmission of the works of the poet Dafydd ap Gwilym; those who do not easily read Modern Welsh will rejoice to find here in English translation not only Huw’s analysis of the Hendregadredd manuscript, that crucially important witness to the work of the court poets, but also his survey of Welsh vernacular books 1250–1400. The invaluable chronological table of manuscripts which originally formed an appendix to the latter is now presented separately in a revised and extended version, including later manuscripts up to 1540 . . . But the scope of this volume, whose value is further enhanced by the judicious choice of plates extends well beyond manuscripts in the Welsh language . . . Medieval Welsh Manuscripts brings together most of those articles by Huws to which Welsh scholars need to refer frequently; the others are listed in a useful appendix. This collection will, however, be read with much profit by a wider audience unfamiliar with the Welsh manuscript tradition. Huws is the acknowledged master of his subject; no successor to him has yet emerged and this volume will stand unchallenged for many years to come.’ Medium Aevum
‘From now on no one will be able to embark on the study of Welsh medieval (and earlier) literature without digesting thoroughly what it has to say about the manuscript sources . . . The publishers as well as the author deserve to be congratulated on this publication. The book is very well designed and produced . . . The 55 photographs of manuscripts deserve special mention, since they provide a most valuable–indeed necessary–accompaniment to the text of this remarkable book.’ (Archaeologia Cambrensis)
‘ . . . of value to all students of medieval manuscripts. Throughout Huws’ writing is marked [by] its clarity and elegance and occasional wry wit.’ The Book Collector
‘ . . . yr hyn sy’n hynod am y gyfrol hon yw’r unoliaeth sy’n perthyn iddi a’r olyniaeth resymegol sydd i’r penodau . . . ’ (Cyfaill y Llyfrgell)
‘Palaeography and codicology may appear somewhat esoteric disciplines, but used creatively, as Daniel Huws does here, they become the means by which we may deepen our understanding of our culture.’ Friend of the Library
‘Cymwynas fawr yw eu casglu rhwng dau glawr yn awr, nid lleiaf am fod ambell un o'r cyhoeddiadau gwreiddiol yn anodd cael gafael arno bellach, ond yn bwysicach oherwydd yr olwg ddwysach a geir ar yr holl faes o'u crynhoi ynghyd . . . Dyma gyfrol a ddylai fod wrth benelin pawb sydd yn ymddiddori o ddifrif yn ein treftadaeth lenyddol ganoloesol. Mae'n fwynglawdd o wybodaeth hygyrch gan fod ynddi fynegeion hwylus a chyfoeth o blatiau du-a-gwyn o'r llawysgrifau a drafodir . . . ’ (Taliesin)
This book, the first ever to be devoted to the manuscripts that preserved the treasures of medieval Welsh literature, offers a fascinating introduction to the manuscript tradition in Wales. Welsh is one of the earliest literatures of Europe and, until about 1800, most of its classics, including the Mabinogion, the poetry of Dafydd ap Gwilym and the Welsh chronicles, were transmitted by manuscript.
Twentieth-century work on Welsh manuscripts was largely dependent on the publications of J. Gwenogvryn Evans at the beginning of that century. Medieval Welsh Manuscripts offers a comprehensive and long overdue revision of the subject. The opening chapters, giving a coherent view of the Welsh manuscript tradition, are followed by detailed studies of some of the key manuscripts, such as Liber Landavensis (the Book of Llandaf), the Hendregadredd Manuscript and the White Book of Rhydderch, and by chapters on the Hengwrt-Peniarth and Mostyn collections of manuscripts. A list of all manuscripts in Welsh up to 1540 will be found invaluable. The volume includes thirty-six plates, which provide the first representative collection in one volume of facsimiles of Welsh manuscripts from the ninth to the sixteenth century.
Daniel Huws employs the skills of palaeography and codicology, but also places the manuscripts firmly in their literary and historical contexts. He provides a new understanding of how Welsh manuscripts were made, of their script, their dating and of the kind of people who wrote them and who were their patrons. Above all he succeeds in combining lucidity and deep learning with a delight in his subject, thus ensuring a volume that is both lively and enlightening.
This is a book that is likely to remain indispensable well into the twenty-first century not just in relation to medieval Wales, but also in bringing Welsh manuscripts into the general field of discussion of the medieval book.
A former Keeper of Manuscripts at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, Daniel Huws is the leading authority on Welsh medieval manuscripts.