Open Doors - Roderic Bowen Library and Archives, UWTSD

This is a nationally important collection of 35,000 historic volumes, including eight medieval manuscripts, and 69 books printed before 1500. The facility holds the Special Collections of St David's College, Lampeter - the first institution of higher education in Wales (and only the third in England and Wales).

For Open Doors, there will be displayed a selection of the most interesting items in the collections, including a 1279 manuscript of the Latin Bible, previously belonging to Bishop Thomas Burgess; two 15th century books of hours; several volumes printed pre-1500, some of them hand-illustrated; a selection of early atlases; a variety of 16th to 18th century natural history books, including the beautiful first edition of Thomas Pennant's British zoology; and a mixture of Welsh-interest volumes, including Abraham Ortelius' atlas containing the first printed map of Wales. Interesting material from the college archives will also be exhibited. 

Address - The Roderic Bowen Library and Archives, University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Lampeter, Ceredigion, SA48 7ED.

The building is attached to the library building on UWTSD's Lampeter campus. Regular buses from Aberystwyth, Carmarthen and Tregaron stop in Lampeter High Street opposite the Black Lion, within five minutes walk of the library.

No booking required.