Inventor of Britain: The Work and Legacies of Humphrey Llwyd

The first book-length examination of the influence of Welsh historian and cartographer Humphrey Llwyd.

Humphrey Llwyd (1527–68) was the author of geographical and historical treatises in English, Welsh, and Latin that exerted a profound influence over multiple literary traditions and national visions. His work lies near the roots of both the ideology of the British Empire and post-medieval visions of Welsh history. Llwyd was also the maker of two innovative and historically significant maps that featured in Ortelius’ ground-breaking Theatrum orbis terrarum of 1570. Yet although his impact in the fields of politics, literature, and cartography was immense, and editions of his major writings remain in print, there has never been a book-length study of Llwyd’s works, influence, and intellectual milieu until now.

Inventor of Britain gives Llwyd’s work and influence the serious, interdisciplinary attention they have long deserved. Contributions from scholars in the fields of history, geography, and literary studies cover the full range of Llwyd’s achievements. Composed of eight chapters, with an extensive biographical and critical introduction and an appendix featuring editions of three eulogies dedicated to Llwyd, the book will be instrumental in validating and illuminating his place as a pivotal thinker of his time. The first three chapters, by Pryce, Fulton, and Lilley, examine his achievements and influence as a historian, chorographer, and cartographer, respectively. The following three chapters, by Walsham, Mason, and Hutson, locate Llwyd in relation to international scholarly networks and debates, including the circle of Archbishop Matthew Parker, the long-standing tension between Welsh and Scottish accounts of British antiquity, and debates over the origins and customs of the Picts which would influence conceptions of race within and beyond Britain. The seventh and eighth chapters turn to Llwyd’s influence over English poetry and drama, including major writers such as Shakespeare, Spenser, Fletcher, and Drayton.

Philip Schwyzer is professor of Renaissance literature in the Department of English, University of Exeter.