'The Bard Is a Very Singular Character' : Iolo Morganwg, Marginalia and Print Culture

A cunning and successful literary forger, Iolo Morganwg has remained a controversial figure within Welsh literary tradition and history ever since his death in 1826. During his lifetime, however, he was a figure who existed on the margins of Welsh literary society. In this fascinating and original study, Ffion M. Jones examines how Morganwg dealt with the frustrations of this obscurity, offering insights into Morganwg’s contribution to and sometimes tortuous relationship with the print culture of his age. This volume approaches the fascinating figure of Iolo Morganwg - stonemason, poet and literary forger - from three distinct but interrelated angles. They all take as their starting point Iolo Morganwg's `marginality' within mainstream literary society both in London and in Wales and demonstrate the strategies that he used to overcome the frustrations of his situation. Iolo's notoriety as a literary forger provides the context for the first discussion in the volume, which considers his efforts to pass on his own work as that of famous Welsh writers of the past. This discussion considers how important the editorial apparatus with which Iolo surrounded his forgeries was to his attempt at ensuring their satisfactory reception. Secondly, two collections of printed books owned by Iolo and containing marginal commentary in his hand are explored. The discussion here demonstrates Iolo's keen interest in the forging of a path for the Welsh language within the developing public domain of the regional eisteddfodau and also his complex personal relations with some of the more successful authors of his day. It is within the context of a welsh public sphere that Iolo's vulnerability and his marginality are brought to the fore. Finally, the volume turns to the marginalia left by Iolo on letters within his collection of correspondence, showing his extraordinary creativity and bringing to attention for the first time some of his unpublished work in the fields of Welsh and English poetry and on matters relating to the Welsh language. --Book Jacket This volume approaches the fascinating figure of Iolo Morganwg – stonemason, poet and literary forger – from three distinct but interrelated angles. They all take as their starting point Iolo Morganwg's ‘marginality'within mainstream literary society both in London and in Wales and demonstrate the strategies that he used to overcome the frustrations of his situation. Iolo's notoriety as a literary forger provides the context for the first discussion in the volume, which considers his efforts to pass on his own work as that of famous Welsh writers of the past. This chapter looks at how important the editorial apparatus with which Iolo surrounded his forgeries was to his attempt to ensure their satisfactory reception. Secondly, two collections of printed books owned by Iolo and containing marginal commentary in his hand are explored. The discussion here demonstrates Iolo's keen interest in the forging of a path for the Welsh language within the developing public domain of the regional eisteddfodau and also his complex personal relations with some of the more successful authors of his day. Iolo's vulnerability and marginality within the context of a Welsh public sphere are both brought to the fore in this chapter. Finally, the volume turns to the marginalia left by Iolo on letters within his collection of correspondence, showing his extraordinary creativity and bringing to attention for the first time some of his unpublished work in the fields of Welsh and English poetry and on matters relating to the Welsh language. Contents......Page 9 List of Figures......Page 11 Preface......Page 12 Acknowledgements......Page 15 List of Abbreviations......Page 16 Introduction......Page 19 ‘Ai ovn oedd?’ (Was it fear?): Iolo Morganwg as editor......Page 29 ‘Ddoe, heddyw, ag yn dragywydd’ (Yesterday, today,and everlastingly): Iolo Morganwg as reader......Page 93 ‘Aneirif bapirau didrefn’ (Countless disorderly papers):Iolo Morganwg the writer......Page 171 Editorial Methods......Page 235 Thomas Llewelyn,Historical and Critical Remarks on the BritishTongue......Page 239 Iolo Morganwg’s books......Page 255 Taliesin ab Iolo’s books......Page 259 Dialect......Page 261 Idioms and proverbs......Page 271 Grammar and morphology......Page 278 Vocabulary......Page 286 Terminology......Page 293 English poetry......Page 299 Translations into English......Page 310 Welsh strict-metre poetry......Page 311 Welsh free-metre poetry......Page 317 Anecdotes......Page 320 Welsh hymns......Page 321 Hymns – introductory material......Page 323 Archaeology......Page 331 Architecture......Page 333 Geology......Page 335 History......Page 336 Horticulture......Page 341 Politics......Page 342 Religion......Page 343 Topography......Page 346 Select Bibliography......Page 347 Index......Page 357 A cunning and successful literary forger, Iolo Morganwg has been a controversial figure within Welsh literary tradition and history ever since his death in 1826. During his lifetime, however, he was largely a figure on the margins of Welsh literary society, who found the task of getting his work into the coveted sphere of print culture a gargantuan one.