‘Books in new contexts’ – Uppsala 2024

The tenth event organised by the Sammelband 15-16 project group will be held as previously announced in Uppsala from 12 to 14 September 2024. Should you wish to propose a paper as part of the event, here are some details on the organisation of the event and on the themes that will be at the heart of this session on ‘Books in new contexts’.

The event is organised by Peter Sjökvist of Uppsala University Library, thanks to two grants obtained from Sven och Dagmar Saléns vetenskaps- och kulturstiftelse and Thore och Vera Virgins stiftelse. Additionnal funding and organisational help is provided by the Centre Gabriel Naudé of Enssib, University of Lyon.

12-13 September 2024: Uppsala University Library

Uppsala University was founded in 1477, and is the oldest in the Nordic countries. Its library was established in the early 1620s, and celebrated 400 years as an institution a few years ago. In the past years, there have been several projects at Uppsala focusing on collections and books originating in other countries, in close collaboration with librarians from the countries of origin. The library of Leufstabruk contains large portions of books purchased via Dutch bookdealers by Charles de Geer, a nobleman of Dutch origin who inherited the estate in 1730. Uppsala University Library from the Swedish Crown received several collections that had been taken as war spoils in the seventeenth century. Previous work has concerned book from Braniewo (Poland) and Riga (Latvia). A current project aims at virtually reconstructing the books taken from Poznań (Poland).

The theme of the meeting of the Sammelband research group will be to address the phenomenon of foreign books in a new context, with a shared history. The event will be divided into three parts: a series of papers, the analysis of copies from the collections of Uppsala University Library and a visit to a historic library. The themes that will be explored in the papers presented during this meeting include:

• Sammelbände formed of editions from diverse geographic origins: how and when were they put together? Were they created specific issues? Did this involve more certain types of books than others?
• The spoliation of books and Sammelbände: were such volumes broken up, reordered, or rebound to form new books or kept in their original state? Has this led to a better preservation of original contexts?
• The movement of books from or towards central and eastern parts of Europe, whether it be through commerce, the displacement of owners, or looted books.
• Understanding the distribution and circulation of copies that formed part of Sammelbände and their changing contexts.

14 September 2024: Library of Leufstabruk

Owned and curated by Uppsala University library, the library of Leufstabruk is in an eighteenth-century country house. One of Sweden’s most well-preserved cultural treasures, the collection was created by the ironmaster and entomologist Charles De Geer (1720–1778) and his son the politician Charles De Geer (1747–1805). In particular, it contains a great number of forbidden and controversial books. Kept in its original environment, the library will be presented by Peter Sjökvist.

All proposals should be sent by 8 July 2024 to the project email address: sammelband15.16@gmail.com

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