A History of the Island of Anglesey

—‘from its first Invasion by the Romans, until finally acceded to the Crown of England; together with a distinct Description of the Towns, Harbours, Villages, and other Remarkable Places in it; and of several Antiquities relating thereforeto never before made public’.
Fifteen guineas / £15.75 (plus £1.95 post/packing within UK)

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This is a casebound, carefully produced, same-size facsimile reprint of the first edition, which was ‘printed for J. Dodsley in Pall-Mall’ in 1775.
The book is described on its title page as ‘A Supplement to Rowlands’s Mona Antiqua Restaurata’ (of which a second edition, edited by Dr Henry Owen, had been published in 1766).

Often referred to as the ‘Dodsley' History of Anglesey, after its London publisher, the authorship of this History has been attributed to the Reverend John Thomas of Llandegai. After John Thomas's death in 1769, his manuscript seems to have been edited (some say plagiarised, although his name appears nowhere in the book) by an aspiring antiquary, the Reverend Nicholas Owen, who was born in 1752 at Llandyfrydog in Anglesey. The volume also includes appendices: ‘A Catalogue of the Rectories, Vicarages and Chapels in the Isle of Anglesey’, and an account of the life of Owain Glyndลตr by the Reverend Thomas Ellis (1625-73). (The authorship of the History is discussed in a paper by TPT Williams in the 2006 edition of the ‘Transactions' of the Anglesey Antiquarian Society.)

Hardcover, 96 large-format pages, 220mm wide x 290mm high.
ISBN 978-1-872773-87-2, Llyfrau Magma, 2008

See also MAGMA’s facsimile reissue of the first edition of Mona Antiqua Restaurata