Welsh Journals

years of George I's reign, access by journalists to parliament's debates at Westminster seems to have been not only frequent but systemised to serve the purposes of sustaining a primitive parliamentary Reuters which supplied periodicals, both English and European, at least one European newspaper, foreign ambassadors in London, and others in Europe with regular reports of parliamentary affairs. However, that is another story. Those responsible for the present venture deserve the thanks of scholars for having put together a volume which is sure to get much use from historians. Historians of party politics will note the very heavy incidence of lists during Anne's fourth parliament (1710-13) and the role of Harley in this, and may wish to ponder the relative infrequency of lists classified by contemporaries in terms of Whigs and Tories. It is a pity though that the University of Leicester History department could not have produced a volume better able to stand up to the wear and tear of use; my own copy is already falling apart. G. C. GIBBS Birkbeck College, London THOMAS JONES YR ALMANACIWR, 1648-1713. By Geraint H. Jenkins. University of Wales Press, Cardiff, 1980. Pp. 162. £ 8.95. A glance at the Bywgraffiadur Cymreig will show that, over the last four centuries or so, Wales has produced many noteworthy Thomas Joneses who have contributed in various ways to the nation's heritage on both sides of Offa's Dyke. One of the lesser known, perhaps, but certainly one of the most versatile, is the subject of this interesting volume. The work was originally a prize-winning study of Thomas Jones, the almanacer, at the Wrexham National Eisteddfod in 1977; it was highly praised by the two adjudicators and recommended for publication. Thomas Jones, son of a Corwen tailor, was a prolific littérateur-a ballad-writer, almanacer, religious reformer, printer, prognostigator par excellence, journalist and antiquarian. He was first attracted to London to set up his precarious book-selling business, and experienced the harsh realities of the trade in the metropolis. Subsequently, after moving to Hill's Lane, Shrewsbury-an ideal centre for the publication of Welsh books-he became obsessively concerned (albeit unsuccessfully) about maintaining his monopoly in the publication of almanacs, and the bitter rivalry between him and John Jones of Caeau near Wrexham and Ellis Edward (Jones's own apprentice) had serious consequences for him in his relations with others, and he nurtured many enemies among his contemporaries. Thomas Jones is better known- as an almanacer (an occupation which was rapidly increasing in the London of his time), and between 1680 and 1712 he published one every year, his intention being to impart to the peasantry of Wales (in their native language) general knowledge on a variety of subjects ranging from the weather forecast to poetry and astrology! On a higher plane, his publication of well- established works such as Taith y Pererin (1699), Yr Ymarfer