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Lady Charlotte Guest was born on 19th May 1812 as Charlotte Elizabeth Bertie, daughter of the 9th Earl of Lindsey, and died on 15th January 1895 as Lady Charlotte Schreiber. As Lady Charlotte Bertie, she was already an accomplished linguist, reading English, Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi, Latin, Greek, French and Italian before she married the industrialist and politician John Josiah Guest at the age of 21 on 29th July 1833. She then learnt Welsh, and under the name of Lady Charlotte Guest became an antiquary, educational reformer, philanthropist, technical translator, and industrialist. It was in this period that she translated a major part of the Red Book of Hergest and the Tales of Taliesin, forming the basis of her Mabinogion. After the death of John Josiah Guest on 26th November 1852, she became the trustee and joint manager of one of the largest ironworks in the world, for three years until the majority of her eldest son and her second marriage to Charles Schreiber in 1855. As Lady Charlotte Schreiber she became famous as a collector of ceramics, fans, board games and playing cards. On her death, her porcelain collection was donated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the others to the British Museum.
Most of the tales in the Mabinogion are included in the, partially incomplete, mid 14th Century Welsh manuscript known as the White Book of Rhydderch, and, in complete form in the slightly younger Red Book of Hergest. Charlotte Guest added the Tales of Taliesin, from Elis Gruffydd’s 1552 Chronicle of the Six Ages.
Besides Taliesin, Guest’s Mabinogion contains three Arthurian tales, influenced by, if not originating from 12th Century French romances; and the mythological Four Branches of the Mabinogi, linked by the character of Pryderi son of Pwll and Rhiannon. These tales, often referred to as the Mabinogion proper, were first written down from a much older oral tradition in the 11th Century. Between the two traditions, the Mabinogion also contains four traditional tales, drawing their inspiration from the same sources as Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain.
Guest’s Mabinogion was originally published in seven independent volumes between 1838 and 1845, starting with the Arthurian Romances. A complete three volume edition was published the following year, and a revised edition was published in 1877. An annotated revision of the 1877 version, edited by Owen Edwards, was published in 1902.
This edition of The Mabinogion is adapted from the 1902 edition edited by Owen Edwards which is in the public domain. It is not intended as, and should not be treated as, an academic text. This edition does not include Edwards' 1902 Introduction or his footnotes. Where appropriate the spelling and pronunciation has been modernised (British English). For ease of reading, minor changes (which do not affect the flow of the text) have been made to update the grammar.
Author Illustation: unattributed, portrait of Lady Charlotte Guest (detail)
Cover Illustation: View of Castell Dinas Brân, Richard Wilson 1771 (detail)
Copyright Statement
To the best of my knowledge all rights to the content of works published in the Forgotten Classics edition of The Mabinogion, including illustrations, resides in the public domain in all territories. Ownership to the particular layout and design of a specific publication is claimed by the publisher. Fair use, including non-commercial distribution and reproduction of the publication in electronic and printed form, is allowed with attribution to “The Puddelbee Company” as the source.