Thomas and David Pennant Manuscripts,

Papers, [1500x1912], mainly of Thomas Pennant and his son, David, and comprising accounts of tours in Britain and Europe; geographical, topographical and historical notes and transcripts, as well as notes on natural history; accounts of David Pennant; correspondence of Thomas and David Pennant; annotated printed works of Thomas Pennant, including copies, with manuscript and other additions and related papers, of Outlines of the Globe, a work in four volumes by Thomas Pennant published between 1798 and 1800; and papers relating to the Downing estate and to Flintshire.

Thomas Pennant, naturalist, antiquary and traveller, was born on the Downing estate in Flintshire. He was educated at Wrexham and London before entering Queen's College, Oxford aged eighteen. Thomas developed a love of the natural world at school and began travelling whilst at Oxford; in the following years he travelled widely throughout Britain and Europe. The Outlines of the Globe was Thomas's most ambitious literary project. The work originally took up twenty-two volumes but only four of these were published - two by Pennant himself and two by his son, David.

Arranged according to NLW MSS reference numbers: NLW MSS 2521-2598, 4877-4880, 12706-12720, 23412-23415.

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NLW MSS 2521-2598; Earl and Countess of Denbigh; Purchase; 1912
NLW MSS 4877-4880; Acquisition; 1922/3 (originally separated from the main group)
NLW MSS 23412-23415; Maggs Bros Ltd; London; Purchase; 1993
NLW MSS 12706-12720; Purchase; July 1938

Thomas Pennant, naturalist, antiquary and traveller, was born on the Downing estate in Flintshire. He was educated at Wrexham and London before entering Queen's College, Oxford aged eighteen. Thomas developed a love of the natural world at school and began travelling whilst at Oxford; in the following years he travelled widely throughout Britain and Europe. The Outlines of the Globe was Thomas's most ambitious literary project. The work originally took up twenty-two volumes but only four of these were published - two by Pennant himself and two by his son, David.

Title based on contents.

NLW MSS 2521-2598, 4877-4880 formerly known as Pennant 1-82; NLW MSS 12706-12720 formerly known as Pennant[-Feilding] 1-15.

The descriptions are also available in the Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume I (Aberystwyth, 1943), Volume II (Aberystwyth, 1951), and Volume IV (Aberystwyth, 1971); NLW MSS 22853-23691 are indexed in greater detail in Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, vol. 9 (Aberystwyth, 2003).

October 2005, April 2009, September 2009 and February 2010.

Description compiled by Siân Medi Davies for the retrospective conversion project of NLW MSS, and revised by Bethan Ifans. The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume I (Aberystwyth, 1943); Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume II (Aberystwyth, 1951); Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume IX (Aberystwyth, 2003);

NLW MSS 12706-12720 : Formerly housed at Downing Hall, co. Flint. They were purchased for the National Library of Wales in 1938, when part of the library of the earl of Denbigh at Newnham Paddox, co. Warwick, was offered for sale. They had probably been removed from Downing Hall subsequent to the marriage in 1846 of Louisa (1828-1853), daughter of David Pennant, junior (1796-1835), and great-grand-daughter of Thomas Pennant, to Rudolph William Basil Feilding, aft. 8th earl of Denbigh.

See also NLW Downing Estate deeds.

Published

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales