Manuscripts

Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, Peniarth MS 2 Book of Taliesin (Llyfr Taliesin)

  • s. xiv1
  • Welsh manuscripts
  • vellum
Identifiers
Shelfmark
2
Classification
Hengwrt, 17
Title
Book of Taliesin (Llyfr Taliesin)
The title is not a medieval convention.
Provenance and related aspects
Date
s. xiv1
first half of the 14th century
Hands, scribes
Anonymous [hand in Harl. 4353, Cot. Cleo. A xiv and Book of Taliesin]Anonymous ... hand in Harl. 4353, Cot. Cleo. A xiv and Book of Taliesin
Entry reserved for but not yet available from the subject index.

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Hands indexed:
Hand

Written in the hand of an anonymous scribe, designated ‘X86’ by Daniel Huws and sometimes known as the Book of Taliesin scribe.

Book of Taliesin scribeBook of Taliesin scribe
(fl. first half of the 14th century)
An anonymous scribe whose hand, designated ‘X86’ by Daniel Huws, has been identified in five Welsh manuscripts, of which the Book of Taliesin (Peniarth 2) may be the best known. Others are Peniarth 6 part 4 (Gereint), NLW MS 3036B (Brut y brenhinedd), and BL Cotton Cleopatra MS A xiv and Harley MS 4353 (both containing copies of the Cyfnerth recension of Cyfraith Hywel). It is not possible to pinpoint any particular monastic house with certainty, but he seems to have been active in the general area of southeast- or mid-Wales.
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Codicological information
Material
vellum
Table of contents
Legend
Texts

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Locus

While it is not a reality yet, CODECS seeks consistency in formatting references to locations of texts and other items of interest in manuscripts. Our preferences may be best explained with some examples:

  • f. 23ra.34: meaning folio 23 recto, first column, line 34
  • f. 96vb.m: meaning folio 96, verso, second column, middle of the page (s = top, m = middle, i = bottom)
    • Note that marg. = marginalia, while m = middle.
  • p. 67b.23: meaning page 67, second column, line 23
The list below has been collated from the table of contents, if available on this page,Progress in this area is being made piecemeal. Full and partial tables of contents are available for a small number of manuscripts. and incoming annotations for individual texts (again, if available).Whenever catalogue entries about texts are annotated with information about particular manuscript witnesses, these manuscripts can be queried for the texts that are linked to them.

Sources

Primary sources This section typically includes references to diplomatic editions, facsimiles and photographic reproductions, notably digital image archives, of at least a major portion of the manuscript. For editions of individual texts, see their separate entries.

Reproductions
[dig. img.] National Library of Wales, National Library of Wales: Digital gallery, Online: NLW, ?–present. URL: <https://www.llyfrgell.cymru/darganfod/oriel-ddigidol/llawysgrifau/>. 
Previously Digital Mirror / Drych Digidol, the digital library of the National Library of Wales gives access to digitised manuscripts, printed works, archival materials and other media.
The book of Taliesin: digital version; issued in 2003 direct link
Editions
[ed.] Evans, J. Gwenogvryn [ed.], Facsimile & text of the Book of Taliesin, 2 vols, Series of Old Welsh Texts, 9, Llanbedrog, 1910.
Internet Archive – vol. 1: <link>, <link> Internet Archive – vol. 2: <link>, <link> Internet Archive – vol. 3: <link> Internet Archive – vol. 4: <link>
[ed.] Williams, Ifor [ed.], The poems of Taliesin, tr. J. E. Caerwyn Williams, Mediaeval and Modern Welsh Series, 3, Dublin: DIAS, 1968.
Editions of the so-called ‘historical’ poems attributed to Taliesin.
[ed.] [tr.] Haycock, Marged [ed. and tr.], Legendary poems from the Book of Taliesin, Aberystwyth: CMCS Publications, 2007.
Editions of the ‘legendary’ poems (e.g. Preiddeu Annwn), as opposed, for instance, to the historical poems edited by Ifor Williams.
[ed.] [tr.] Haycock, Marged, Prophecies from the Book of Taliesin, Aberystwyth: CMCS Publications, 2013.
Editions, with translations, of the prophetic texts in the Book of Taliesin.

Secondary sources (select)

Haycock, Marged, “Llyfr Taliesin”, National Library of Wales Journal 25 (1987–1988): 357–386.
Huws, Daniel, Medieval Welsh manuscripts, Cardiff and Aberystwyth: University of Wales Press, 2000.
Williams, Ifor [ed.], The poems of Taliesin, tr. J. E. Caerwyn Williams, Mediaeval and Modern Welsh Series, 3, Dublin: DIAS, 1968.
Introduction
Evans, J. Gwenogvryn, Report on manuscripts in the Welsh language, vol. 1.2: Peniarth, Historical Manuscripts Commission, London, 1899.
Contributors
C. A., Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
November 2010, last updated: February 2024