Salisbury library
A large personal library of Welsh studies books, once owned by Enoch Robert Gibbon Salisbury (1819-1890).
Prior to the establishment of the National Library of Wales, Salisbury accumulated a collection of about 13,000 books in Welsh, or related to Wales and the Border Counties, and compiled valuable scrapbooks of maps and prints. In 1886, Salisbury was forced to sell his collection, due to financial difficulties.
Salisbury’s books were acquired by the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire in 1885. That institution would become Cardiff University, and Salisbury’s books would form the nucleus of the University Library. As well as including historical, literary, religious, social, and linguistics works from the 16th-19th centuries, the library is home to rare and distinct sub-collections of Welsh ballads, almanacs, hymnology, and works by Richard Baxter (1615-1691).
