Welsh Journals

THE DEPARTMENT OF PRINTS, DRAWINGS, AND MAPS The Department of Prints, Drawings, and Maps has, as its chief aim, the collection and preservation of all kinds of graphic material, particularly, of course, material relat- ing to Wales and the other Celtic countries. The first Annual Report presented by the Council of the Library, in 1909, out- lined the policy to be adopted with regard to the Department as follows This will include original drawings, engraved prints, photographs, picture post-cards, and every other form of graphic delineation of matters concerning Wales and the Border Counties. Portraits of men and women, not only celebrities, but racial types and interesting characters views of scenery, build- ings, towns and villages, places of worship, bridges, and any other topographical pictures illustrations of natural history, geology, domestic life, the arts and industries, customs, games, pastimes, religious observances, the Gorsedd, the Eisteddfod, and other national gatherings all these and many other phases of Wales and Welsh life should be represented in this department. The pictures need not necess- arily be of value as works of art, so long as they illustrate the subject. The collections in this department will be mounted, and arranged according to subject. The value of such a collection for reference will be great, and become of increasing importance. This general policy, laid down nearly forty years ago, has been faithfully followed and developed throughout the years and whereas, naturally, some sections of the Department have developed more fully than others, the growth has been such that a truly comprehensive picture of Wales and Welsh life may now be obtained from a study of the contents of the Department. It should be mentioned here that the policy of the Library, particularly with regard to this Department, has always been to work in close co-operation with its sister insti- tution, the National Museum of Wales at Cardiff, and complete understanding has always existed between the two institutions. The foundations of the Department were firmly laid at an early date by Sir John Williams's gift of his collection of topographical prints, portraits, and maps, number- ing some thousands and covering the whole of Wales. A particularly valuable portion of that collection is a set of about fifty original drawings by Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827) made during his tour in Wales in 1797 with Henry Wigstead. These drawings were formerly owned by Joseph Grego, the biographer of Rowlandson. Although perhaps better known as a caricaturist Rowlandson, as these drawings in pen and wash, some lightly coloured, show, was a superb draughtsman, and his interpretation of Welsh scenes and the Welsh countryside appears to have been achieved with great economy of effort. Twenty-eight of the drawings are now on loan to the Arts Council of Great Britain for exhibition purposes. Another interesting feature is a set of eleven drawings in pen-and-ink and colour wash by the brothers Samuel (1696-1779) and Nathaniel Buck. These drawings are the originals of some of the well-known engravings of abbeys, castles, and cities pub- lished by the two brothers. Of recent years the Library has acquired several other collections of original topographical drawings such as the collection of about two hundred water-colour drawings of views in Wales by John Warwick' Smith (1789-1831), a collection of