Thomas Mostyn 1651-1692

Sir Thomas MOSTYN, 2nd bart 1651-1692

Biographical Note

Son of Sir Roger Mostyn, 1st bart, of Mostyn, Flintshire, a member of a long-established Welsh family. Matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford 1667, but did not graduate. MP for Caernarvon 1679-81; he held numerous local administrative offices in north Wales. Brother of Richard Mostyn.

Books

Mostyn is one of the best-known 17th century Welsh antiquaries; his surviving correspondence includes numerous references to book buying, and he established the foundation of what became a Mostyn family library, built up through succeeding generations until dispersed in the 19th and 20th centuries. He is particular noted as a manuscript collector; a catalogue of manuscripts made shortly after his death, edited by Huws (see below) lists over 100 items. He acquired many medieval monastic books as well as specifically Welsh manuscripts, and commissioned the copying of Welsh literary texts.

Sources

• History of Parliament.
• Erne, L. Shakespeare and the book trade, 2013, 210.
• Huws, D. Sir Thomas Mostyn and the Mostyn manuscripts, in J. Carley and C. Tite (eds.), Books and collectors 1200-1700, London, 1997, 451-72.
• Jones, P. H. and Rees, E., A nation and its books: a history of the book in Wales, Aberystwyth, 1998, 87.