Hard-coded id of currently selected item: . JSON version of its record is available from Blacklight on e.g. ??

Metadata associated with selected item should appear here...

Harley MS 1867

Record Id:

040-002047698

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

040-002047698

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100000000709.0x000177

LARK:

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Harley MS 1867

Title:

The Creation of the World [Cornish play]; and John Davies, ‘Adagia Britannica’. With other papers.

Scope & Content:

Contents:

f. 1: Letter from Edward Lhwyd to Nathaniel Lloyd. 29 November 1708.

ff. 2-58: The Creation of the World: Cornish play, copied from the manuscript written out by William Jordan, 1611, in the Bodleian Library Oxford (MS Bodl. 219), with parallel English translation by John Keigwyn, dated 1693. Title page (f. 2): ‘The Creation of the World; being a Cornish play or opera, written by Mr William Jordan: & for the better understanding of that Language Translated into English verbatim by Mr John Keigwyn of Moushole, of the Lower House at the Request of the R[igh]t Rev[eren]d Father in God Jonathan L[or]d Bishop of Exon, 1697’. Foootnote on f. 6: ‘This Translation was finish’d by John Keygwyn Gent in the year 1693’. In more than one hand, with corrections. Includes notes in the hand of Edward Lhwyd (e.g. ff. 58v, 135, 135v).

ff. 59-134: Collection of Welsh proverbs, arranged in alphabetical order, with Latin translations, by John Davies (c. 1570-1644) of Mallwyd, Merionethshire, in his own hand. A fuller version of Davies’ Adagia Britannica than the one sent by him to Simonds D’Ewes in 1641 (Harley MS 374), or the selection printed in Antiquæ linguæ Britannicæ … dictionarium duplex (1632). Includes some Greek and Arabic.

f. 135: Additional Welsh proverbs written by Edward Lhwyd.

ff. 136v-137: Welsh proverbs, phrases, and notes, collected by Samuel Williams, Rector of the Parish of Llangynllo, Cardiganshire, father of Moses Williams (1685-1742), who presented the manuscript to Harley.

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Harley Collection

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "040-002047698", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 1867: The Creation of the World [Cornish play]; and John Davies, ‘Adagia Britannica’. With other papers." , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-002045828
040-002047698

Is part of:

Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts

Harley MS 1867 : The Creation of the World [Cornish play]; and John Davies, ‘Adagia Britannica’. With other papers.

Hierarchy:

032-002045828[1869]/040-002047698

Container:

View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661

Record Type (Level):

File

Extent:

1 volume

Digitised Content:

Languages:

Cornish
English
Latin
Welsh

Scripts:

Latin

Start Date:

1630

End Date:

1740

Date Range:

Mid 17th century-Early 18th century

Era:

Access:

Please request the physical items you need using the online collection item request form.

Digitised items can be viewed online by clicking the thumbnail image or digitised content link.

Readers who have registered or renewed their pass since 21 March 2024 can request physical items prior to visiting the Library by completing
this request form.
Please enter the Reference (shelfmark) above on the request form.

If your Reader Pass was issued before this date, you will need to visit the Library in London or Yorkshire to renew it before you can request items online. All manuscripts and archives must be consulted at the Library in London.

This catalogue record may describe a collection of items which cannot all be requested together. Please use the hierarchy viewer to navigate to individual items. Some items may be in use or restricted for other reasons. If you would like to check the availability, contact our Reference Services team, quoting the Reference (shelfmark) above.

User Conditions:

Physical Characteristics:

Materials: Paper.

Dimensions: 277 x 205 mm.

Foliation: 1-13, 13*, 14-137 folios.

Binding: British Museum binding.

Custodial History:

Former owner: John Davies (c. 1570-1644), of Mallwyd, co. Merioneth, Welsh scholar.

Former owner: Edward Lhwyd (1660-1709), Jesus College Oxford, keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, Celtic scholary, antiquary and naturalist.

Former owner: Moses Williams (1685-1742), of University College, Oxford, assistant to Edward Lhywd at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Williams presented the volume to Harley.

The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (1661-1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (1689-1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts.

Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta Cavendish, née Holles (1694-1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (1715-1785), duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library.

Finding Aids:

A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: Eyre and Strahan, 1808-12), vol. 2, no. 1867.

H Idris Bell, The Welsh MSS in the British Museum Collections (London: Cymmrodorion Society, 1937), p. 32.

Cyril Ernest Wright, Fontes Harleiani: A Study of the Sources of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts Preserved in the Department of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1972), 125, 223, 355.

Publications:

Creation of the World - Bodleian text in: Paula Neuss, The creacion of the world: a critical edition and translation (1983).

Adagia Britannica - Selection printed in: John Davies, Antiquæ linguæ Britannicæ, nunc vulgò dictæ Cambro-Britannicæ, a suis Cymraecae vel Cambricae, ab aliis Wallicæ, et linguæ Latinæ, dictionarium duplex (1632).

Daniel Huws, A Repertory of Welsh Manuscripts and Scribes, c.800-c.1800, 3 vols (Aberystwyth: The National Library of Wales and University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, 2022), I, pp. 674-75.

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)

Related Material:

ff. 2-58: The Creation of the World.

Copy of Cornish text written by William Jordan, 1611. Bodleian Library Oxford (MS Bodl. 219)
John Keigwyn translation, 1693. Bodleian Library (Bodl. Oxf., MS Corn. e.2).
Paula Neuss, The creacion of the world: a critical edition and translation (1983).

ff. 59-134: Adagia Britannica.

John Davies ‘Adagia Britannica’. National Library of Wales Brogyntyn MS I.11: https://archives.library.wales/index.php/dr-john-davies-mallwyd-adagia-britannica.
Shorter autograph version formerly owned by Simonds D’Ewes, 1641. Harley MS 374, ff. 1r-44r.
Selection printed in: John Davies, Antiquæ linguæ Britannicæ, nunc vulgò dictæ Cambro-Britannicæ, a suis Cymraecae vel Cambricae, ab aliis Wallicæ, et linguæ Latinæ, dictionarium duplex (1632).