Programme 2025-2026

Tuesday 21st October 2025, 6.30p.m.
Dr. Edwin Rose:
Reassessing the Library of Thomas Pennant: The Working Tool of a Gentleman, Scholar and Collector of the Natural World
National Library of Wales.

Thomas Pennant (1726-1798) of Downing Hall, Flintshire was a naturalist, antiquary and traveller, and was a particular interest of Gwyn Walters, one of the founding members of the Bibliographical Group.  The National Library has extensive holdings of his works, which include Tours in Wales and Arctic Zoology.  These feature prominently in our speaker’s book Reading the World: British Practices of Natural History, 1760-1820, which was launched in Aberystwyth in June.

Tuesday 11th November 2025, 6.30p.m.
Professor Matthew Steggle:
In the Company of Good Mrs Shakspaire 
Online meeting via Zoom

The lecture will present new research about a letter addressed to “Good Mrs Shakspaire”, who is believed to be William Shakespeare’s wife.  The letter was found in a book owned by Lady Hawkins School, Kington, held on deposit at Hereford Cathedral Library. 

Saturday 6th December 2025, 11.00a.m. 
Dr. Katie Gramich:
Welsh Fiction of the 1920s: Dorothy Edwards, Rhys Davies and the Art of Camouflage
St. Paul’s Methodist Centre, Queen’s Road.

This talk examines two writers from South Wales who began publishing fiction in English in the decade before Dylan Thomas burst upon the literary scene, namely Dorothy Edwards (1903-1934) and Rhys Davies (1901-1978).  (The National Library holds an extensive Rhys Davies archive, while there is just one archival item in the hand of Dorothy Edwards in the library's holdings - the talk draws on these materials.)  Though on the surface very different, both authors adopted strategies of irony, mimicry, and camouflage to make their way in an unwelcoming literary establishment.  Their work is unsettling and subversive in its treatment of national identity, gender roles and sexuality.  Two short stories by Edwards and Davies are analysed to demonstrate how their art may be seen as a kind of literary cryptography.

Tuesday 20th January 2026 6.30p.m.
Mr. Tim Pye:
Libraries of the National Trust
Online meeting via Zoom.

Saturday 21st February 2026, 11.00a.m. 
Prof. Richard Macve:
Accounting Treasures of the ICAEW Library; Chinese Archives: and NLW
St. Paul’s Methodist Centre, Queen’s Road.

Tuesday 24th March 2026, 6.30p.m.
A.G.M. followed by Dr. Tristan Burke:
The Battle of Bangor: Satire and Scandal in 1796
National Library of Wales.