Icelandic

Description

At the heart of this excellent working library for students of both Modern and Old

Icelandic is Bogi Melsted's extensive collection. Melsted (1860-1929), a

distinguished Icelandic historian and author, built up an impressive library of

books on all aspects of Icelandic life, language, literature and culture, which was

acquired for the Brotherton Library shortly after his death, thus fulfilling his wish

that his books would remain in Europe and be kept together as a library. That it

came to Leeds was achieved at the instigation of Professor E.V. Gordon and

with the financial support of the then Lord Mayor of Leeds, Sir Edwin Airey.

Since its arrival in 1929 the collection has been substantially added to by gift

and through purchases, so that it has more than doubled in size and continues

to grow. This expansion would not have been possible without the generosity

and assistance of many individuals and a number of Iceland's learned societies

and institutions, as well as that of the Icelandic Embassy in London.

The Icelandic Collection supports study and research across a wide range of

subjects, encompassing not only the history of Iceland, its literature and its

language but also religion, politics, travel, geography, economics and the arts

through books, pamphlets, newspapers and other periodical publications. There

are over one hundred books published before 1800. The major nineteenth

century editions of the sagas are naturally represented as are the beautifully

reproduced modern facsimile manuscript series. Though this is essentially a

collection of printed books, among the long set of the proceedings of the

Icelandic parliament are some early issues in manuscript, and there is one other

significant manuscript, an eighteenth-century Icelandic grammar book in Latin.

The works of modern Icelandic writers are well-represented and this area

continues to be developed.

This is not just a collection of material on Iceland: its coverage extends to other

areas under major Scandinavian influence, such as Greenland and the Faroe,

Orkney and Shetland Islands. Comparable collections are few and in Britain

probably only that at University College, London can offer similar resources to

scholars. Icelandic studies in Leeds, although never large-scale, are longestablished

and are currently pursued at both teaching and research level,

enjoying a steady popularity. Recent reorganisation of the Brotherton Library

has brought about a division of the Icelandic Collection between the closed

access accommodation within Special Collections, by far the greater part, and

the open shelves of the main reading room, where books appropriate to the

everyday study needs of users are available and can be borrowed. Use of the

Collection is not confined to staff and students of Leeds University and enquiries

and consultation by researchers elsewhere are welcomed.

Access and usage

Access

Access to this material is unrestricted.