The White Book of Rhydderch (Welsh:
Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch) is one of the most notable and celebrated surviving
manuscripts in
Welsh. Mostly written in southwest Wales in the middle of the 14th century (c. 1350) it is the earliest collection of Welsh prose texts, though it also contains some examples of early
Welsh poetry. It is now part of the collection of the
National Library of Wales, having been preserved in the library at Hengwrt, near
Dolgellau,
Gwynedd, of the 17th century antiquary
Robert Vaughan, who inherited it from the calligrapher
John Jones and passed it to his descendants. The collection later passed to the newly established National Library of Wales as the
Peniarth or Hengwrt-Peniarth Manuscripts.