Welsh Journals

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pool, and continued there until 1892 when he gave up his Church and retired to Llansantffraid, near Llanfyllin. When a minister at Blaenau he wrote biographies of two ministers, David Rolant and Robert Thomas, both of them quaint characters. In these two books Owen Jones showed a re- markable facility for the delineation of character combined with a keen perception of humour, and both books are justly accorded a very high place in Welsh biographical literature. To Owen Jones is also due the credit of bringing Morgan Llwyd's great work, Llyfr y Tri Aderyn, within the reach of Welsh readers. In this article, however, we wish to deal more particu- larly with Mr. Jones as a collector of Welsh Books. For- tunately he has left on record ample details of his progress as a collector. In a thick note-book he kept a careful account of every book purchased by him, the date of pur- chase, the place where it was bought and the amount paid. We learn, for instance, that he obtained the following books among others from his old home at Llanuwchllyn,- Bibl Bishop Parry. 1620. Bibl M. Williams. 1717. Canwyll y Cymru. 1713. Holl Ddyledswydd Dyn. 1718. Llyfr y Tri Aderyn. 1778. Llyfr y Resolution. 1684. These books had probably been handed down as a portion of the family inheritance, and are typical examples of the books read in a Welsh Puritan household of the 18th cen- tury. His first purchase appears to have been made in 1844, when he bought Goldsmith's Geography for half-a-crown, and this was followed by the purchase of a large number of school books, such as Lennie's Grammar and Walkingame's Tutor's Assistant during the following years. Curiously enough the first Welsh book he seems to have purchased was Drych y Prif Oesoedd in the year 1848. For some years afterwards his purchases were purely educational, and as he got older they became largely theological. Indeed he does not appear to have purchased Welsh books on any extensive scale