The National Library of Wales (, ) is the national legal deposit library of Wales and a Welsh Government sponsored body, located in Aberystwyth. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million books and periodicals, and the largest collections of archives, portraits, maps, and photographic images in Wales. The Library is also home to the national collection of Welsh manuscripts, the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales, and the most comprehensive collection of paintings and topographical prints in Wales. and one of the largest research libraries in the United Kingdom, the National Library is a member of Research Libraries UK (RLUK) and the Consortium of European Research Libraries (CERL).

At the very core of the National Library of Wales is the mission to collect and preserve materials related to Wales and Welsh life and those which can be utilised by the people of Wales for study and research. Welsh is the Library's main medium of communication, but it does aim to deliver all public services in Welsh and English.

History

thumb|Sir John Williams, one of the principal founders of the National Library

In 1873, a committee was set up to collect Welsh material and house it at University College, Aberystwyth. In 1905, the government promised money in its budget to establish a National Library and a National Museum of Wales, and the Privy Council appointed a committee to decide on the location of the two institutions. David Lloyd George, who later became Prime Minister, supported the effort to establish the National Library in Aberystwyth, The Charter stipulated that if the National Library of Wales should be removed from Aberystwyth then the manuscripts donated by Sir John Williams will become the property of the University College. A new Royal Charter was granted in 2006.

The National Library of Wales was granted the privilege of legal deposit under the Copyright Act 1911. Initially, however, the Library could only claim material deemed to be of Welsh and Celtic interest without any restrictions on expensive or limited edition publications. In 1987, the last of these restrictions were removed to make the legal deposit entitlement of the National Library of Wales equal to those of the Bodleian Library, Cambridge University Library, Trinity College Library, Dublin and the National Library of Scotland.

The first use of the Library of Congress Classification by a library in Britain was at the National Library of Wales in 1913.

Buildings

thumb|upright|The North Reading Room

On 15 July 1911 King George V and Queen Mary laid the foundation stone of the National Library of Wales. Designed by architect Sidney Greenslade, who won the competition to design the building in 1909, the building at Grogythan, off Penglais Hill, was ready for occupation in August 1915 but the task of transferring the collections was not completed until 1 March 1916, St David's Day. The grounds (landscaping) of the National Library of Wales are also Grade II listed, and are seen as a significant part of the historical landscape of Wales with the landscaping both supporting, and playing a key part of the overall architectural design of the library building.

The Library is faced with Portland stone on the upper storeys which contrasts with the Cornish granite below it. In recent years many changes have been made to the front part of the building.

The large North Reading Room, where printed books are consulted, has "the proportions of a Gothic Cathedral", being 175 feet long, 47 feet wide and 33 feet high. There are galleries at three levels above the floor. The feasibility of installing a mezzanine floor to make better use of the space has been considered on two occasions. Until 2022, The South Reading Room was used for consulting archives, manuscripts, maps and other printed materials. It now houses the Wales Broadcast Archive Centre, an Archive of programmes from all the major Welsh broadcasters dating back to the beginnings of broadcasting in Wales in the 1920s; this includes BBC Wales, ITV Wales and S4C. Carved above the entrance is the room's original name the Print and Maps Room. Above it on the second floor of the south wing is the Gregynog Gallery where temporary and permanent exhibitions display the treasures of the Library's collections. Restoration was assisted by a government grant of £625,000.

Wartime sanctuary

alt=Tunnel entrance, National Library of Wales|thumb|upright|Entrance to the tunnel that was constructed under the National Library of Wales for the storage of valuable material during the Second World War

During the Second World War, many of Britain's most valuable artworks and manuscripts were stored in the National Library of Wales, which provided the evacuated treasures with a refuge from enemy bombing raids. The architect Charles Holden was instructed to design a tunnel for this purpose in the outcrop of rock close to the main building, with the British Museum sharing in the costs that this incurred. The tunnel was heated and ventilated to ensure the preservation of vellum, papyri and paper during its use from 18 July 1940 until 23 May 1945. In addition to an extensive consignment from the British Museum, the Library received forty-six boxes of manuscript and printed books from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and over a thousand pictures, eighty-two boxes of books and twenty members of staff from the National Gallery.

A number of distinguished scholars from the British Museum accompanied the collections to Aberystwyth.

  • Linda Tomos (2015–2019)
  • Pedr ap Llwyd (2019–2024)
  • Rhodri Llwyd Morgan (2024–)

Library collections

The collections of the National Library of Wales include over 6.5 million printed volumes, including the first book printed in Welsh, Yny lhyvyr hwnn (1546). In addition to the printed book collections, there are about 25,000 manuscripts in the holdings. The archival collections at the Library include the Welsh Political Archive and National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales. The Library also keeps maps, photographs, paintings, topographical and landscape prints, periodicals and newspapers. In 2010, the Peniarth Manuscript collection and The Life Story of David Lloyd George were amongst the first ten inscriptions on the UK Memory of the World Register, a UNESCO record of documentary heritage of cultural significance. This has allowed the Library to collect modern Welsh, Irish and Gaelic language books for its Celtic collection. and Copac union catalogues.

Manuscripts

The National Library of Wales keeps many rare and important manuscripts, including the Black Book of Carmarthen (the earliest surviving manuscript entirely in Welsh), the Book of Taliesin, the Hendregadredd Manuscript, and an early manuscript of Geoffrey Chaucer. Around three hundred medieval manuscripts are deposited in the Library: about 100 are in Welsh. The Welsh manuscripts in these foundation collections were catalogued by Dr J. Gwenogvryn Evans in the Reports on manuscripts in the Welsh language that he compiled for the Historic Manuscripts Commission. Of the 561 volumes of manuscripts in the Peniarth collection, some four-fifths were collected by Robert Vaughan (c. 1592–1667) for his library in Hengwrt, Meirioneth.

  • The White Book of Rhydderch (), a composite volume that contains the earliest version of the Mabinogion (Peniarth MS 4).
  • The Chronicle of the Princes in Peniarth MS 20 () is one of the two main versions of Brut y Tywysogion, the other being the Red Book of Hergest, which is in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
  • History of the Kings (Peniarth MS 23C), is a copy of Brut y Brenhinedd, the Welsh translation of the Historia Regum Britanniae by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It is a rare instance of an illustrated medieval Welsh manuscript.
  • The Laws of Hywel Dda (c. 1300–1350), the earliest extant text (in Latin) of native Welsh law (Peniarth MS 28). More than 50% of the manuscripts known to contain the laws of Hywel Dda are in the collections of the National Library, with the majority being in the Peniarth Collection (see the list of Welsh Law manuscripts).
  • Llyfr Du'r Waun (mid-13th century), also known as the Black Book of Chirk, the earliest Welsh text of the laws of Hywel Dda (Peniarth MS 29). Other poets included in this volume are Bedo Brwynllys, Dafydd Llwyd, Llywelyn ap Morgan, Dafydd ap Gwilym and Ieuan ap Howel. The assumption that this manuscript was written by Howel Davi is challenged by evidence, such as slips of the pen that occur in poems of Davi's composition, that suggest the scribe was copying these poems. With the exception of two sections (42 and 43), which are an attempt at transcription by an unskilled hand, the entire manuscript appears to be the work of one scribe (Peniarth MS 67). Beunans Meriasek was rediscovered by W. W. E. Wynne in the 1860s among the volumes from the Hengwrt Library that had been bequeathed to him in 1859.
  • The 15th-century volume comprising Disticha Catonis, the Battles of Alexander the Great, and History of the Three Kings (Peniarth 481D), and the late 15th-century Vaux Passional (Peniarth 482), which was prepared for Henry VII, were acquired and deposited in the National Library by Gwendoline and Margaret Davies in 1921. These two fine illuminated manuscripts were retained by W. R. M. Wynne when he sold the Peniarth Manuscripts to Sir John Williams.
  • A bound volume containing books by Giovanni Battista Palatino and Ugo da Carpi, both notable Italian masters of the 16th century, which is assumed to have been owned by John Jones of Gellilyfdy (Peniarth MS 522).
  • Over forty manuscripts in the hand of John Jones of Gellilyfdy, embellished with initial capital letters and head- and tailpieces that demonstrate his calligraphic talent.

Cwrtmawr Manuscripts

The Cwrtmawr Manuscripts are one of the significant manuscript collections that were transferred to the National Library of Wales in the early years of its existence. They are from the personal collection of John Humphreys Davies, who was the Principal of University College, Aberystwyth. Davies was a barrister and a keen book collector who acquired the manuscripts gradually from a number of sources. The largest group of manuscripts are those acquired from John Jones ('Myrddin Fardd'), but there are several other substantial groups including those from a Welsh clerical family, the Richards of Darowen, Peter Bailey Williams and his brother Rev. St George Armstrong Williams, William John Roberts ('Gwilym Cowlyd'), and Daniel Silvan Evans.

General Manuscript Collection

thumb|upright|Llanbeblig Hours (fol. 2r): the "Lily Crucifixion" [[Annunciation scene with the Virgin Mary enthroned under a green canopy]]

thumb|upright|Medieval Astronomy (fol. 4v)

thumb|upright|NLW MS 17110E Liber Lanavensis fol. 5r

In addition to the Peniarth and Llanstephan manuscripts, the collection that Sir John Williams donated to the National Library included 500 manuscripts in the general collection (NLW MS 1–500). These manuscripts are an amalgamation of the various purchases that Sir John made between 1894 and 1899, including groups of manuscripts from the Welsh philologist Egerton Phillimore, Sir Thomas Phillipps of Middle Hill, the Ashburn library and Sir Edmund Buckley of Plas Dinas Mawddwy. Descriptions of 446 of these manuscripts are provided by J. H. Davies in Additional Manuscripts in the Collections of Sir John Williams, which the Library published in 1921.

  • The Black Book of Basingwerk (NLW MS 7006D) is a 15th-century manuscript containing a version of Brut y Brenhinedd, a Welsh translation of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. Particular features of interest include the medieval wooden board binding and the decorated initials embellished with gold.
  • The Llywarch Reynolds Manuscripts (NLW MS 970 to 997) are the 28 volumes that Llywarch Owain Reynolds bequeathed to the Library in 1916. The most notable among them is the 17th century collection of Welsh poetry, Llyuyr Hir Llywarch Reynolds.
  • The Book of Llandaff (NLW MS 17110E), also known as Liber Landavensis, is an ecclesiastical manuscript written between 1120 and 1140.
  • The Llanbeblig Book of Hours (NLW MS 17520A) is a small manuscript book compiled around 1390. The manuscript has a number of entries in the calendar that connect it to Wales, including a celebration of the dedication of the church of Saint Peblig, Caernarfon. Isabella Godynogh (d. 1413) was possibly its original owner. The full-page miniatures, illuminated with gold, and the fine lettering indicate the value of the book. The Llanbeblig Hours is the only known illuminated manuscript that contains the iconographical Lily Crucifixion motif, and may be the earliest example of its use in any media.
  • NLW MS 20143A is a manuscript of the laws of Hywel Dda written in Welsh around 1350. It is unusual in that it retains a medieval binding.
  • The Tintern Abbey Bible (NLW MS 22631C) is a 13th-century Bible that has a known association with the medieval library of the Cistercian monastery at Tintern, Monmouthshire. It was purchased by the National Library for £30,000 in a Christie's sale in December 1988 and is the second book known to have survived from the Tintern library.

Groups of manuscripts in the general collection include:

Rare books

There are many rare books in the National Library of Wales including the three earliest books printed in Welsh, The National Library's rare books include collections of incunabula, sixteenth-century European imprints, private press publications, bindings and scientific works.

Many of the named collections of printed books include early or otherwise rare books: