Reports of Symposia
The group has held ten symposia during its history. Six of these were held at Gregynog Hall (1978, 1981, 1984, 1988, 1992 and 2017), two at Plas Tan-y-Bwlch, Maentwrog (in 1995 and 2001), and one each St Deiniol’s Library, Hawarden (2006) and the University of Wales Trinity St. David, Lampeter (2013).
Reports of recent symposia compiled by the Secretary
2017 Symposium at Gregynog Hall
The Aberystwyth Bibliographical Group held a symposium at Gregynog Hall, the University of Wales conference centre near Newtown, over the weekend of 15th-17th September. Twenty of us stayed at Gregynog for the weekend, including visitors from Cheshire, Devon, Norfolk and Rutland, and others joined us for part of the weekend. After dinner in the Blayney Room on Friday, the first lecture was given in the Weaver Room by Professor Ian Gadd, Professor of English Literature at Bath Spa University. His talk on The Stationers’ Company: from incorporation to copyright traced the history of the London livery company which controlled publishing in England and Wales from 1557 to 1695, and continued to exert an important influence thereafter.
Saturday morning’s lecture by Dr. Paul Bryant-Quinn of the University of Exeter on Welsh scholarship in Renaissance Italy reported some of his findings from a recent extended research trip. A number of Welsh Catholics went to live in Italy at a time when their religion made it unsafe for them to remain at home, and pursued their scholarly activities there, leading to the publication of books such as Gruffydd Robert’s Dosparth byrr, a Welsh grammar printed in Milan in several parts between 1567 and 1600. Dr. Susan Davies’s paper on When palaeography is much more than the ability to read … focused on the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, and included an “astronomical” research project based in Warsaw with which she has been helping.
In the afternoon David Vickers, Controller of Gwasg Gregynog, gave us a tour of the internationally renowned private press, and spoke about its history from the time it was re-established in the 1970s as well as showing us some of the beautiful books he had printed. Before dinner Dr. Diana Dixon, a former lecturer at the College of Librarianship Wales, gave a richly illustrated talk on To instruct and entertain: Victorian magazines for children.
On Sunday morning Dr. Elizabeth Savage of the Institute of English Studies at the University of London spoke on Early colour-printed book illustrations: making, meaning and experimenting. The final lecture was given by Professor Sarah Hutton, formerly a lecturer in the English Department at Aberystwyth and now a visiting professor at the University of York. She spoke about The challenges of editing Thomas Traherne, a seventeenth-century Herefordshire clergyman and poet. The symposium concluded with lunch in the dining room.
The Group is grateful to the Oxford Bibliographical Society for financial assistance towards the costs of the symposium.
2013 Symposium at the University of Wales Trinity St. David, Lampeter
The Aberystwyth Bibliographical Group held its first residential symposium for seven years over the weekend of 6th-8th September at the University of Wales Trinity St. David, Lampeter. Twenty-one of us stayed in Lloyd Thomas Hall for the weekend, including visitors from Devon, Leicestershire and Manchester, and others joined us for meals and lectures. After dinner in the Private Dining Room on Friday, the first lecture was given in the Old Hall by Eiluned Rees, one of the founders of the Group. Her talk on “The wonderful world of bibliography” was a series of fascinating and entertaining reminiscences from her career at the British Museum and the National Library of Wales.
The three speakers on Saturday morning all talked about aspects of the library at Lampeter, one of the most important historic collections in Wales. The Rev. Dr. David Selwyn, a former lecturer in Ecclesiastical History at Lampeter, gave “Some thoughts on Lampeter’s foundation and historic collections as a resource for the historian of the book”. The Rev. Dr. John Morgan-Guy, a former lecturer in Ecclesiastical History and Theology and Acting Chaplain at Lampeter, then gave a joint lecture with Peter Hopkins, manager of the collections in the Roderic Bowen Library and Archives, on “New insights on the donations of Thomas Phillips to the library at Lampeter”.
In the afternoon Professor Keith Robbins, former Vice-Chancellor of Lampeter, gave a guided tour of the historic parts of the College, including the Old Hall, Chapel, Founders’ Library and Rider Room, and ending in the Roderic Bowen Library where some of the treasures had been put on display for us. After dinner Dr. Rhiannon Ifans of the School of Welsh and Bilingual Studies at Lampeter spoke about the Cenarth collection of Welsh ballads, and sang some of them with Trefor Pugh of Trefenter.
On Sunday morning Caroline Kerkham, a former lecturer in Estate and Landscape Studies at the History Department in Aberystwyth, spoke on “William Pamplin of Soho and Llandderfel, Bala: botanical agent and publisher/bookseller”. The final lecture was given by Professor David Thorne, former Professor of Welsh at Lampeter, on some place names in the Teifi Valley and their mythological origins. The symposium concluded with lunch in the Lloyd Thomas Dining Hall.