The volume NLW MS 735C comprises several Latin texts on astronomy that were copied c. 1000 to c. 1150. Thus, it is the oldest scientific manuscript in the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales ( cy, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million boo ...

. It contains a description of the constellations in Germanicus' Latin translation of the Greek ''Phaenomena'' by

Aratus Aratus (; grc-gre, Ἄρατος ὁ Σολεύς; c. 315 BC/310 BC240) was a Greek didactic poet. His major extant work is his hexameter poem ''Phenomena'' ( grc-gre, Φαινόμενα, ''Phainómena'', "Appearances"; la, Phaenomena), the fi ...

, with illustrations that demonstrate the interrelatedness of myth, astronomy and astrology during the period around 1000, when this section of the manuscript was created in the

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...

area. The second section of the manuscript was completed by a

scriptorium Scriptorium (), literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes. However, lay scribes and ...

in the same part of France c. 1150. Before the manuscript was rebound, probably in London, in the early seventeenth century, little is known about its history. It appeared in the Plas Power, Denbighshire library catalogue that was compiled in 1816 but may have already been there for some time, possibly in the possession of Thomas Lloyd (c. 1673-1734), the lexicographer who spent his last years at Plas Power. The Plas Power manuscripts were purchased by the National Library in 1913 and added to the General Manuscript Collection.

References

{{reflist National Library of Wales collections Scientific illuminated manuscripts 12th-century illuminated manuscripts