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The Llyfr Coch is both the most complete and the most impressive extant collection of Cymric prose and poetry. It is currently housed in the University of Oxford's Bodleian library and the (incomplete) digital image of this can be found here. These images are of very high quality, excellent if you want to consult with the original.

Judging from the language and orthography the Red Book was probably copied somewhere between 1375 and 1425. The Mabinogion and the romances seem to have either been copied directly from the Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch or from its direct antecedent volume. Other components in the volume show a strong Norman influence and post-date the Llyfr Gwyn.

The history of the Llyfr Coch is far better attested than that of the Llyfr Gwyn perhaps because it has passed through fewer hands. The discovery, in a Cymric manuscript housed at the Philadelphia, Pa, public library, of a record by Hywel Fychan fab Hywel Goch of Buellt (Builth) states that he was commissioned by Hopcyn ap Tomos ap Einion (c. 1330–>1403) to copy much of the important Cymric literature currently available, into a single volume. Though the MSS itself is in many hands; the work was probably initiated and overseen by Hywel Fychan. Hopkyn ap Tomos lived near Ynysforgan and was interested in poetry and literature. Deeply learned he assembled a large collection of manuscripts; though his tastes, for the time, were rather conservative (which probably explains why there are no poems by Dafydd ap Gwilym in the Llyfr Coch. He was also interested in the bardic traditions, in divining the future and was a Master of Brut, a body of Cymric prophetic lore. For this reason he was called to Caerfyrddin by Owain Glyndŵr in 1403 to prophesy what was going to happen in the ensuing conflict between the Cymry and the English.

There are several odes to Hopcyn in the Llyfr Coch undoubtedly included because of his patronage. Hopcyn ap Tomos' son Tomos inherited the estate in 1408 which would therefore seem to be Hopcyn's likely date of death. He was succeeded by his own son Hopcyn. This was the time of the Wars of the Roses and this Hopcyn took the Lancastrian side. At the battle of Mortimer's Cross in 1461 he fought for Henry VI (the losing side) and as a results his lands and possessions were forfeit in 1464 to the Vaughans of Tretower. These possessions included the library and the Llyfr Coch

About a year later (1465) and the manuscript finds its way to the library of Plas Hergest (Hergest Court) in Herefordshire in the Welsh Marches and there it remained until the seventeenth century.

In 1701 it was presented to Jesus College, Oxford as a gift from the Rev. Thomas Wilkins, Llanblethian, Morgannwg. It seems that on February 17, 1701 Thomas Lhuyd pays for the manuscript to be re-bound but 'forgets' to return the volume which Thomas Wilkins finds in his possessions in 1714 and returns it to Jesus College. The volume is re-bound in moroccan leather in 1851 and was subsequently re-housed in the Bodleian Library of the University of Oxford.

The book was named for its red binding and for the library of Hergest where it spent the majority of its existence.

The manuscript is bicolumnar, written in vellum, with each column labelled 1-1442 inclusive

Contents are as follows [remember to downlaod and install my Mabinogi Celtic font before viewing the original Cymraeg Canol {middle Cymric} text otherwise the special characters won't appear]:

Folios iii-iv: beginning of Dares Phrygia in a later hand. 
Folios v: blank 
Folio vi: a brief index in a late hand 
Folios vii-ix: blank.
The contents of the book are thus:

The only other major omission from the Llyfr Coch (apart from the bards contemporary with Hopcyn) beiing the Laws of Hywel Dda. Though of course this is nit-picking as the volume is a treasure-trove of native and Norman-influenced prose and poetry.

The text given below represents the complete entry for the Llyfr Coch Hergest as given in the Historical Manuscripts Commission, Report on manuscripts in the Welsh language, vol. II part I, (London, 1902). The entire text of the entry is presented and this has been re-edited for the web: