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Rhoddodd y llawfeddyg i Gwmni Dwyrain India, Thomas Phillips (1760-1851), 22 500 o gyfrolau i Goleg Dewi Sant, Llanbedr Pont Steffan, rhwng 1834 a 1851.
Er iddo gael ei eni yn Llundain, magwyd Phillips yn Sir Faesyfed. Ar ôl gadael yr ysgol, cafodd ei brentisio yn apothecari yn y Gelli Gandryll ac wedyn daeth yn ddisgybl i’r anatomydd a’r llawfeddyg blaenllaw o Lundain, John Hunter. Yn wahanol i’r arfer, fe’i derbyniwyd yn llawfeddyg llawn ar ei gynnig cyntaf. Yn 1780, ymunodd â Gwasanaeth Llyngesol y Brenin (sef gwasanaeth meddygol y Llynges Frenhinol) a hwylio i Ganada. Ar ôl dychwelyd, cymhwysodd yn aelod o’r Cwmni Llawfeddygon ac ymunodd â Chwmni Dwyrain India, gan wasanaethu i ddechrau yn Calcutta. Yn 1796, anfonwyd ef i archwilio ysbytai yn Botany Bay, Awstralia; ymwelodd â Tsieina ar ei daith adre. Dychwelodd i Brydain yn 1798, lle priododd ag Althea Edwards, merch rheithor Cusop yn Swydd Henffordd.
Dechreuodd ail daith dyletswydd Phillips i India yn 1802. Daeth yn llawfeddyg goruchwyliol ac yn aelod o fwrdd meddygol Bengal. Gwelodd weithredu yn Java a Nepal yn ogystal ag ymweld â Mauritius. Dechreuodd hefyd sefydlu llyfrgelloedd bach mewn ystafelloedd bwyta milwyr.
Gadawodd Phillips India yn 1817, i dreulio gweddill ei oes yn Llundain. Erbyn hyn, roedd yn ddyn cyfoethog, gydag incwm o’i ymgymeriadau masnachol yn India a phensiwn cyflog llawn o £1500. Rywbryd rhwng 1817 a 1821, prynodd Camden Park, ystâd siwgr ar ynys St Vincent yn y Caribî, a 164 o bobl gaethweision. Yn 1821, prynodd wyth deg pump o gaethweision eraill. Yn y pen draw, derbyniodd £4737, 8 s 6d mewn iawndal am golli 167 o gaethweision.
Mewn cyferbyniad amlwg â hyn, cysegrodd Phillips ei ymddeoliad i weithiau dyngarol ac addysgol, gan ddymuno rhoi cymaint o arian â phosibl fel y gallai ei weld yn cael ei ddefnyddio’n dda. Ei brif ddiddordeb oedd prynu a dosbarthu llyfrau mewn symiau enfawr. Ymwelodd Phillips â Choleg Dewi Sant ifanc ar ddechrau’r 1830au, cyfarfu â’r llyfrgellydd Rice Rees, a gwelodd fod casgliad y llyfrgell yn fach iawn. Gan lenwi ei amser i fynd i’r afael á hyn, rhoddodd fwy na 22 500 o lyfrau mewn chwe deg o sypiau rhwng Mawrth 1834 a Chwefror 1852.
Phillips left India in 1817, to spend the rest of his life in London. By this time, he was a rich man, with income from his commercial undertakings in India and a full-pay pension of £1500. At some time between 1817 and 1821, he bought Camden Park, a sugar estate on the Caribbean island of St Vincent, with 164 enslaved people. In 1821, he purchased a further eighty-five enslaved people. He was eventually to receive £4737, 8 s 6d in compensation for the loss of 167 enslaved people.
n y llwyth cyntaf yn unig, roedd argraffiadau o ddechrau’r 16eg ganrif o Pliny a Tertwlian, yn ogystal ag argraffiadau cyntaf o The Wealth of Nations (1776) gan Adam Smith a Poems on Several Occasions (1720) gan John Gay. Ar ôl gwerthu casgliad enfawr Richard Heber, roedd llu o hen lyfrau ar y farchnad ac roedd prisiau’n gymharol isel. Ymddengys fod Phillips wedi prynu trwy asiantau ac arwerthiannau; mae’n debyg bod y llyfrau wedi’u cludo i Gaerfyrddin ac wedyn eu cludo ar y ffordd. Aeth llyfrau o bob math i Lanbedr Pont Steffan, gan amrywio o lawysgrifau canoloesol i destunau ysgol rhad, ac o ysgrifau teithwyr i bregethau. th century editions of Pliny and Tertullian, as well as first editions of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations (1776) and John Gay’s Poems on Several Occasions (1720). Following the sale of Richard Heber’s huge collection, there was a glut of old books on the market and prices were relatively low. Phillips appears to have bought through agents and auctions; it is likely the books were shipped to Carmarthen and then carried by road. Every kind of book made its way to Lampeter, ranging from medieval manuscripts to cheap school texts, and from travellers’ writings to sermons.
After Phillips’s death on 13 June 1851, more than 50 000 books waiting distribution were found in his home in Brunswick Square. He was buried, next to his wife, in the crypt of St Pancras Church, London.
Roedd rhoddion Phillips yn cynnwys tua hanner cant o incwnabwla (llyfrau a argraffwyd yn 1500 neu cyn hynny). Cyhoeddwyd bron pob un o’r rhain naill were published in either Germany or Italy; thirty-five came from Venice, the largest publishing centre in Europe. The earliest printed work is thought to be St Jerome’s ai yn yr Almaen neu’r Eidal; daeth tri deg pump o Fenis, sef canolfan gyhoeddi fwyaf Ewrop. Credir mai’r gwaith print cynharaf yw Epistolae Sant Jerôm, a olygwyd gan Johannes Andreae a’i argraffu gan Konrad Sweynheim ac Arnold Pannartz yn 1470. Mae Genealogia deorum gentilium (1472) Boccaccio yn uchafbwynt arbennig. Rhyw fath o ‘lawlyfr mytholegol’ yw’r llyfr, sy’n adrodd straeon tua 950 o ffigurau mytholegol Groegaidd-Rufeinig a’u perthynas â’i gilydd. Dangosir y perthnasoedd hyn gan goed achau’r duwiau wedi’u darlunio â llaw. Yr argraffydd oedd Wendelin von Speyer, brawd ac olynydd Johann von Speyer, yr argraffydd cyntaf yn Fenis. Uchafbwynt arall yw’r Missale Vratislaviense, a gyhoeddwyd gan Peter Schöffer ym Mainz ym 1499. Yn unol â dull oes y llawysgrifau, gadawodd Schöffer fylchau yn ei waith i ganiatáu lle i ychwanegu blaenlythrennau wedi’u haddurno â llaw. Yn ein copi ni, mae’r blaenlythrennau hyn wedi’u darlunio’n goeth gan ddefnyddio haen aur a throeon deiliog addurniadol.
Llenyddiaeth deithio
Teithiwr oedd Thomas Phillips, ac mae ei gasgliad yn gyforiog o lyfrau teithio o bob math. Roedd ei anrhegion cynharaf yn cynnwys copi o Theatrum orbis terrarum Abraham Ortelius (argraffiad 1606), yr atlas Ewropeaidd mawr cyntaf. Roedd hwn yn cynnwys y map cyntaf o Gymru i’w argraffu, wedi’i dynnu gan Humphrey Llwyd o Ddinbych. Mae nodyn wedi’i ysgythru uwchben Afon Teifi yn darllen, ‘Hic fluvius solus in Britannia castores habet,’ (hon yw’r unig afon ym Mhrydain sydd ag afancod). Ochr yn ochr â hyn, cyflwynodd Phillips hefyd gyfieithiad Saesneg Henry Hexham o Atlas Gerhard Mercator (a gyhoeddwyd yn 1636).
Rhoddodd Phillips ddetholiad eang o naratifau teithwyr. Yn ail hanner y 18 fed century, Captain James Cook’s three expeditions to the Pacific in the 1770s had been particularly important in bringing exploration to a reading public. Numerous official and unofficial accounts of the voyages were published; more than one hundred editions and impressions were issued before 1800. Phillips’ gifts to Lampeter included John Hawkesworth’s official account of the first voyage, fed ganrif, bu tair alldaith Capten James Cook i’r Môr Tawel yn y 1770au yn arbennig o bwysig wrth ddod â fforio i sylw darllenwyr. Cyhoeddwyd nifer o adroddiadau swyddogol ac answyddogol o’r mordeithiau; cyhoeddwyd mwy na chant o argraffiadau cyn 1800. Ymhlith rhoddion Phillips i Lanbedr Pont Steffan roedd adroddiad swyddogol John Hawkesworth o’r fordaith gyntaf, An account of the voyages taken by the order of his present Majesty for making discoveries in the Southern hemisphere (1773);
A journal of a voyage to the South Seas (1773) gan yr artist Sydney Parkinson; A voyage towards the South Pole and round the world gan Cook (1785); William Wade Ellis ‘ An authentic narrative of a voyage performed by Captain Cook and Captain Clerke, in His Majesty’s ships Resolution and Discovery during the years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, a 1780 (1782); ac A voyage to the Pacific Ocean (1785) gan Cook. Treuliodd Phillips lawer o’i fywyd yn India yn gweithio i Gwmni Dwyrain India, ac mae hyn wedi ei adlewyrchu yn ei roddion. Mae llawer o’r cyfrolau yn llawn darluniau cain. Er enghraifft, aeth A collection of two hundred and fifty colored etchings descriptive of the manners, customs and dresses of the Hindoos (1799) gan Balthazar Solvyns ati i geisio cofnodi bywyd “Blacktown,” sef rhan frodorol Calcutta. Lluniodd Solvyns “the Hindu casts with their respective professions,” a’r gweision a gyflogir gan deuluoedd Ewropeaidd, yn ogystal â dulliau cludo, ysmygu â’r hwca, offerynnau cerdd, a gwyliau a seremonïau. Treuliodd William Hodges, yr artist swyddogol ar gyfer ail alldaith James Cook, chwe blynedd yn India. Yn ei lyfr Travels in India, yn ystod y blynyddoedd 1780, 1781, 1782, a 1783, y nod oedd rhannu ei brofiad o India â darllenwyr Prydain.
Unlike India, China was almost closed to Europeans at the end of the 18th century. From 1792 to 1794, Lord George Macartney led a seven-hundred strong embassy to the Qianlong emperor, hoping to open up trade and to achieve a new era of diplomatic relations. Although the embassy was a failure, it gathered a great deal of information and sparked a renewal of British interest in China. William Alexander, the junior draughtsman, produced a vast number of sketches. His illustrations were used for the official record, George Staunton’s An authentic account of an embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China (1797). In 1805, Alexander brought out his own book, The costume of China, containing forty-eight aquatints with commentary on each plate. Thomas Phillips also donated Æneas Anderson’s A narrative of the British embassy to China in the years 1792, 1793, and 1794 (1795) and A complete view of the Chinese empire : … and a genuine and copious account of Earl Macartney‘s embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China (1795).
After the end of the Napoleonic wars, Britain was left in a position of dominance, and with a surplus of naval officers. Sir John Barrow, second secretary to the Treasury, seized the opportunity to search for the Northwest Passage, the sea corridor connecting the North Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic regions of North America. Between 1819 and 1836, eight expeditions set out. Then on their return, Arctic explorers’ travel narratives were turned into lavishly produced books, designed to appeal to wealthy book collectors. The Thomas Phillips collection contains a selection of these volumes, including Barrow’s A chronological history of voyages into the Arctic regions (1818); John Ross’ A voyage of discovery (1818) and Narrative of a second voyage in search of a north-west passage (1835); William Edward Parry’s Journal of a voyage for the discovery of a north-west passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific (1821) and John Franklin’s Narrative of a journey to the shores of the Polar Sea (1824).
Thomas Phillips’ gifts were rich in travel literature of another kind. On the Grand Tour, sons of the aristocracy journeyed through Europe to Italy, completing their classical education, refining their manners and learning the ways of the world. Tourists returned laden with souvenirs, for instance portraits by Pompeo Batoni and cityscapes by Canaletto and Panini. Thomas Phillips donated to St David’s College Giambattista Piranesi’s Le antichità romane, a sizeable work designed to appeal to wealthy grand tourists. The four magnificent volumes contain more than 250 images of the remains of ancient Rome; many of the plates are over two feet wide. The set would originally have sold for 30 scudi, the same price as a half-length portrait by Batoni.
Increasingly artists and architects undertook the Grand Tour too, hoping to gain knowledge and to meet wealthy patrons. Architects could then promote themselves by publishing handsome books of their drawings of ancient monuments. Phillips’ gifts included Robert Adam’s Ruins of the palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia (1764); James Stuart and Nicholas Revett’s The antiquities of Athens (1762-1816), and Robert Wood’s The ruins of Palmyra (1753) and The ruins of Balbec (1757).
Phillips donated a fascinating selection of works on natural history. The oldest of these is Macer Floridus’ De viribus herbarum, probably printed at Geneva shortly before 1498. Written in Latin verse, the book describes the medicinal properties of plants. Phillips also gave three of the twelve volumes of Hendrik Adriaan van Rheede tot Draakenstein’s magnum opus Hortus Indicus Malabaricus (1678-1703). Van Rheede, the commander of Malabar, had organized a detailed survey of the plants of southwest India, particularly those with economic or medical significance. He employed local people to collect plants and learned Brahmins to help with the text, as well as using three or four artists. Other botanicals include Johannes Commelin’s Horti medici Amstelodamensis (1697-1701); Pierre Joseph Garidel’s Histoire des plantes qui naissent aux environs d’Aix et dans plusieurs autres endroits de la Provence (1715); Timothy Sheldrake’s Botanicum medicinale (1759); and seven volumes of Giorgio Bonelli’s Hortus Romanus (1772-84).
Covering a wider subject area, Phillips gave a copy of Robert Hooke’s Micrographia (1665), the first scientific best seller. In it, Hooke, the curator of experiments for the Royal Society, gathered items of original research. The subjects featured ranged from the moon to the point of a needle, and from the louse to the surface of a stinging nettle. Some of the illustrations, for instance those of the ant, the flea, and the head of a grey dronefly, are still astounding today.
For zoology, Phillips presented three of the four volumes of Conrad Gessner’s monumental Historia animalium (1551-56). Gessner had aimed to include all the information that had ever been written about every animal species. Some creatures’ existence was still uncertain; there is an illustration of a unicorn. Alongside this, Phillips also gave a copy of Fischbuch, a hand-coloured, German language “coffee table” version of the third volume on aquatic animals.
In the first two volumes of Eleazar Albin’s Natural history of birds (1731-34), Phillips donated the earliest book on birds to use coloured plates. He also gave the beautiful first edition of Thomas Pennant’s British zoology (1766), as well as the smaller, more commercially successful second edition (1768-70).