Book History in the Nordic Countries Introduction

What characterizes Nordic book history? This was the first thing on our minds when we considered the present special issue of Mémoires du livre – Studies in Book Culture. Setting out on the project and distributing the call for papers we hoped to come up with some sort of answer to our question. However, there is no simple single‑word or single‑sentence answer that encapsulates Nordic book history. On the contrary, several new questions arose: Are there any research topics that are especially common among Nordic book historians? And is there a special Nordic book historical approach when it comes to theory and practice? Faced with such an array of possible avenues for research, we asked ourselves: what better way to address them than by providing examples of ongoing book historical research in the Nordic countries, as well as examples of research being conducted elsewhere, but dealing with Nordic subjects? In this wide‑ranging special issue, 16 scholars explore book history from a Nordic perspective, each of them offering a glimpse of their own current research. Taken together, the articles constitute a mosaic of northern book history. They draw from range of different materials, employ several different theories and methods, and explore topics spanning from manuscript culture to audiobooks. Chronologically the articles also cover a wide period, from the early modern era up until today. From the moment we began outlining our call for papers, we faced the difficult task of defining what we meant by “northern countries.” The Nordic countries (also known as “the North” or “the Nordics”), are here defined as the five Nordic nations, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, and therefore also include the autonomous regions of Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Åland. Ideally, we would have featured a few articles dealing principally with Finnish and Icelandic perspectives and offered better coverage of the more peripheral regions of the Nordics. Still, without striving to be comprehensive, this special issue provides an overview of some of the themes currently being explored by Nordic book historians, as well as a glimpse of the book historical research milieu. We hope that the collection of perspectives united here will contribute to broadening international interest in Nordic book history. Since the issue offers glimpses rather than a full picture, a few remarks on the status of Nordic book history may be of use to start. What distinguishes Nordic book history from the discipline internationally? And what has traditionally interested book historians in the Nordic countries? In an attempt to answer these questions, we will provide a brief historical survey of the field and offer some thoughts about the changing circumstances that have shaped Nordic book history over the years. Until recently Nordic book historians have rarely published in English. It has simply not been necessary. Most Scandinavians, as well as a great number of Finns, can read and understand the other Scandinavian languages (except for Icelandic and Faroese), which to some extent explains why a large part of Nordic book history is only available in the Scandinavian languages. Another important reason for this is that Nordic book history has arguably addressed chiefly Nordic issues and targeted primarily a domestic audience. Consequently, the Nordic countries constitute, at least to some extent, a blank area on the international, non‑Scandinavian book historian’s map, so that they must often rely on translations, summaries, and second‑hand information. However, in recent years, a change has taken place, and Nordic researchers are increasingly publishing their findings in English. Our special issue follows that trend. For much of the Middle Ages and the early modern period, the Nordic countries consisted …