A PORTRAIT OF MACHYNLLETH AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. By Caradawc o Lancarfan. Translated by Nicholas Islwyn Dugdale Fenwick. Second Edition.

(1854/2009) 2022 2nd Coch-y-Bonddu edition. 8vo paperback (148 x 210mm). Pp172. B/w photographs and illustrations, maps, bibliography.

In 1854, Machynlleth Literary Society offered a prize for the best composition on the subject of "Machynlleth and its Surroundings." There was only one entry, and this was written by a seventeen year-old named Evan Jones. Despite being the only entry, Jones's work exceeded the expectations of the judges and was published the same year, as Darlundraeth o Fachynlleth a'i Hamgylchoedd. Jones took some material from several well-known nineteenth-century guides to Wales, but a great deal of the book preserves information which would otherwise have disappeared. Even some of Jones's history which "might be branded as pure romance" (p.v), may well reflect Machynlleth's own view of its history at the time of publication. Jones went on to have a notable career as a minister, journalist, author and publisher, and was a major force in the Welsh Nonconformist movement. Although the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw the publication of a number of guides to Wales, the region around Machynlleth was apparently not dealt with in any detail. Jones's book fills this gap interestingly and is well worth the attention of anyone keen to know more about this part of Mid Wales.