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suggestion is made that possibly he derived some stimulus from Richard Davies to do so. At all events, there followed an incredibly productive period so that, by 1567, he had produced a Welsh version of the Book of Common Prayer and most of the New Testa- ment. No further light is shed, however, on the mystery of why he and Davies failed to complete their work on the Old Testament. It is also conceded that Salesbury's 'theories and quirks of language and orthography did not help his reputation', but Dr. Jones contends-and with justice-that Salesbury remains 'the outstanding example of the Welsh Renaissance scholar' and an impassioned reformer. This constitutes not only the most up-to-date but also much the most readable life of this major pillar of Welsh literature and culture available to us. GLANMOR WILLIAMS Swansea THE GLAMORGAN HEARTH TAX ASSESSMENT OF 1670. Edited by E. Parkinson. Publica- tions of the South Wales Record Society, no. 10, Cardiff, 1994. Pp. lxxxiii, 213; 6 maps, 15 illustrations, 20 tables. £ 16.50. The importance of the hearth tax returns for the insights they offer into population, wealth and social structure has been widely recognized. Two apparently complete hearth tax assessments for the county of Glamorgan survive: one undated from the 1660s, and the other from 1670, now transcribed in this volume. There is also an incomplete return for 1672. This is a publication which will be of great value to local historians, genealo- gists and those interested in Welsh record-keeping. More generally, the introduction seeks to explore some of the potential uses of the hearth tax in a wider context, and to assess the value of its evidence for the interaction of local and central government and patterns of wealth distribution and population. A general outline is given of the history of the hearth tax administration from its inception to its demise in England and Wales in 1689, and its record of success and failure. By 1670, its collection had entered into a third period of administration. The collection by the sheriffs and the attempt to farm it out had both produced yields which failed to meet expectations, and in 1669 it was entrusted once more to receivers who, unlike the sheriffs, were appointed by the Crown. The 1670 returns were made under much closer royal supervision, and yielded a substantially larger sum. The collector appointed was Captain Richard Gwyn, who was also responsible for the collection of the hearth tax from Pembrokeshire, Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire. A detailed account is given of how the tax was collected and the returns recorded. Some comparisons with the lists for the 1672 assessment (where extant) and the undated assessment of the 1660s are made, although less consideration is given to differences, and the reasons for them, as one might have hoped. Parkinson argues that although conclusions drawn from the hearth tax returns should never be accepted as definitive and should be used with care, this does not invalidate their use, as long as the caveats are observed. In a cautious and