Yesterday I visited the wonderful Strahov library in Prague
Henning Hansen
@henninghansen.bsky.social
Book historian & research librarian at the Swedish National Heritage Board (@raa-se.bsky.social) & UiT The Arctic University of Norway. History of reading, Provenance, Cartography & Library history. @sharpweb.org aficionado.
Excited to attending the 31st International Conference on the History of Cartography, which is held at Charles University in Prague. I'm presenting a poster which highlights the 400 year anniversary of Anders Bure's famous map Orbis arctoi (1626). ichc2026.org #ICHC2026
Call for applications: The Royal Swedish Academy of History, Letters and Antiquities is offering fellowships to young scholars and civil servants for projects dealing with the special collections at the Swedish National Heritage Board. Apply by 15 August 2026. www.raa.se/rettig
Sion, Switzerland, as depicted in Braun & Hogenberg’s Civitates orbis terrarum (1575). A fairytale-like cityscape from the collections of @raa-se.bsky.social.
Breaking vexillology news
Riksantikvarieämbetet@raa-se.bsky.social · 4mo agoArmémuseum har fått FoU-medel från Riksantikvarieämbetet för att undersöka smutsen på militära fanor. Det är ett tvärvetenskapligt samarbete där konstvetenskap, konserveringsvetenskap, miljöhistoria och kemi kombineras. www.raa.se/nyheter/2026... #forskning #kulturarvsforskning #heritagescience
Yesterday I had the pleasure to visit the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm and take a closer look at some of their books.
Runbleck i bly är en hopvikt plåt som troligtvis bars som en skyddande amulett. Med hjälp av neutronteknik har nu Riksantikvarieämbetets runolog Magnus Källström, och forskaren Helena Berg vid Göteborgs universitet, lyckats upptäcka runskrift på runbleckens dolda sidor. www.raa.se/nyheter/2026...
Vad händer om du hittar ett fornfynd? Välkomna på föredrag!
Riksantikvarieämbetet@raa-se.bsky.social · 4mo agoVarannan onsdagskväll kl. 17.30 bjuder Riksantikvarieämbetets arkiv och bibliotek in till föreläsningar eller öppna magasinsvisningar. Den 22 april möter du Sofia Kahl, handläggare, som berättar om processen kring upphittade fornfynd samt Riksantikvarieämbetets roll. www.raa.se/evenemang-oc...
Easter is just days away – time to start your #mämmi / #memma. Here’s an early modern recipe, scribbled in a 1686 book held by @raa-se.bsky.social: “Take good malted rye, grind and sift it fine. Cook to a thick consistency, pour into birch-bark boxes, and bake in the oven."
Stunning engraving of Christina of Sweden’s 1655 triumphal entry into Rome (printed in Rome the same year). After abdicating her throne and converting to Catholicism, her arrival became one of the defining spectacles of the Counter-Reformation, quickly transformed into religious propaganda.
Registration for the SHARPIES—our totally online Book History Festival—is now open and free for SHARP members! 📚😀 If you're not a member, it's easy to join (membership is between $55 and $100). The festival will take place July 7th-9th with events across time zones. events.zoom.us/ev/Ap9iEZwmC...
SHARPIES: A Global Book History Festival
events.zoom.us
Seeing this wonderful copy of Łaski's Statutes (1506) was one of the highlights of my visit to the Warsaw University Library - a beautiful library with great collections.
Delightful title page by the German engraver Dirk Diricks (1613–1653). This Garden of Eden scene offers a splendid menagerie of animals. I’m particularly fond of the whale (a favourite motif among contemporary cartographers) and the frog, prominently placed close to Adam and Eve. #bookhistory #frog
Blind tooled pigskin binding from 16C, reused for a Swedish 1646 Bible (Swedish National Heritage Board). With image of Lady Justice with the Latin motto "Iustitie quisquis picturam | lumine cernis dic deus est [iustus iustaque facta probat]" (text within brackets only implied).
On Wednesday 28 January I’m giving a talk in Stockholm about Swedish war booty - welcome! www.raa.se/evenemang-oc...
During a recent trip to Tromsø, I had a chance to take a quick look at some recent acquisitions at @ubuit.bsky.social. Amazing stuff!
My latest article is a review of Charlotte Appel and Nina Christensen's excellent "På sporet af børn og bøger" (Gads Forlag 2023). doi.org/10.14811/clr...
A very short story in two very crude woodcuts (from Tagliente's "Libro di abacho", Venice 1570)
The Louvre heist reminds me of other times when cultural treasures disappeared. One story that stays with me is the loss of the Golden Horns of Gallehus, Denmark, stolen in 1802 by a goldsmith who melted them down. Engraving in Jacobæus' "Museum regium" [1696], The Swedish National Heritage Board.
It's finally happed. The telephone directory has become a collector's item. auctionet.com/sv/4585726-d...
DAN WOLGERS. Telefonkatalog, Gula Sidorna K-Ö, Stockholm, 1992.
21 x 27 cm
auctionet.com
Välkommen till årets Rettigsymposium! Det äger rum den 26 november kl 13:15. Programmet bjuder på föredrag och samtal om aktuella forskningsprojekt knutna till Riksantikvarieämbetets arkiv och bibliotek. Evenemanget är kostnadsfritt och öppet för allmänheten – men föranmälan krävs: lnkd.in/dg_yv_Tv
Last week marked the inaugural meeting of the research network Objects of Knowledge, hosted at University of Copenhagen. It was a pleasure meeting everyone. I talked briefly about a fascinating item from our collections: one of Johannes Bureus’ copper plates. comm.ku.dk/research/inf...
Why is it assumed that the 'lectrice' would skip the preface, unlike the 'lecteur'? Women’s reading has long been a concern. This 1833 example suggests that the way a woman read was as much a subject of critique as the content she read. Preface in Fournier & Arnould’s "Struensée" [Paris 1833].
Three weeks to go!
Henning Hansen@henninghansen.bsky.social · last yr.Call for applications: The Royal Swedish Academy of History, Letters and Antiquities is offering fellowships to young scholars and civil servants for projects dealing with the special collections at the Swedish National Heritage Board. Apply by 30 August 2025. www.raa.se/rettig
Took a short break from the #SHARP2025 conference to visit the George Eastman Museum and was pleased to find a pretty library and cool book photos
Beautiful conclusion from @henninghansen.bsky.social! By turning to these bibles, we can "restore voices that were never meant to disappear" #SHARP2025