The numerous scribes of NLW MS Brogyntyn ii.1

This essay builds upon the seminal investigation of Daniel Huws whose essay “MS Porkington 10 and its scribes” (1996), identified sixteen scribal hands involved in the copying and compilation of NLW MS Brogyntyn ii.1. Huws reduced the total number of scribes posited by earlier scholars, and drew distinctions between the significance of the different scribal stints, regarding only three scribes as key players in the volume’s assembly. His pioneering codicological study concentrated on achieving an understanding of the manuscript’s complex composition and did not provide descriptions of its many scribal hands. The present essay offers the first proper palaeographical study of MS Brogyntyn ii.1. It includes systematic accounts of the hands of all its scribes, not just those regarded as important because of their probable activity as compilers. The scribal profiles are based on an analysis of aspect, duct, and key letterforms; a consideration of uppercase and lowercase letters; use of punctuation and abbreviation; and mise-en-page including any decorative elements. These detailed profiles intersect with the investigation of scribal languages undertaken by Carrillo-Linares and Garrido-Anes, and help underpin Pope’s study of the volume’s compilation. Prior attention to the eight scribes involved in the opening quire has been especially lacking; this essay fills that gap, providing the palaeographical scaffolding for Silva’s assessment of that quire’s distinctive practical contents. Through this set of detailed scribal profiles this essay shines light on the true nature of MS Brogytyn ii.1’s many scribes.