Full Project Title: The Lives and Afterlives of Medieval Manuscripts in the Libraries of the Welsh Gentry.
Doctoral Researcher: Isabel Tookey
Supervised by: Dr Shaun Evans and Professor Sue Niebrzydowski
The majority of Wales’ medieval manuscripts spent centuries of their lives in the libraries and collections of the Welsh gentry. This research project will explore how these owners collected and valued their books, considering networks of collection and gentry intellectual culture. Furthermore, once the manuscripts are part of private collections, this project aims to understand their usage. This includes copying and printing, or lack of, as well as how the manuscripts featured in collector’s and academic’s publications and literature while in private collections. This research project will also investigate the lasting impact of gentry manuscript ownership. The impact on the manuscripts themselves, in terms of conservation and binding. Secondly, how did these manuscripts being in collections where access was controlled by private individuals, impact understandings of the manuscripts right up to the present day. Furthermore, as the manuscripts are a primary resource for the study of medieval Wales, how has control of them impacted understandings of the medieval period more generally. Finally, it will explore how these collections, which are now for the most part no longer together or in other institutions, can be made accessible for researchers.
