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Documentatieblad werkgroep Achttiende eeuw. Jaargang 1991 (1991)

Documentatieblad werkgroep Achttiende eeuw. Jaargang 1991

(1991)– [tijdschrift] Documentatieblad werkgroep Achttiende eeuw–rechtenstatus Auteursrechtelijk beschermd

Vorige Volgende

Margareta Björkman
Circulating libraries in late eighteenth-century Stockholm

During the 18th century circulating libraries played an important part in the development of the bookmarket and the spread of light reading. Throughout Europe the rental of books became a frequent way of distribution beside ordinary bookselling.

Jürgen Habermas has pointed out the importance of the circulating library for new social and economic structures to the benefit of the rising middle class. These libraries contributed to the spread of modern ideas via political and philosophical publications but also via light literature. The public discussion was founded on a large public's access to and possibility to take a stand to the subject-matter of books that the circulating libraries made available.

In the capital of Sweden the circulating library became an institution in the 1780s. From 1783 to 1809, which is the period I have examined, there were seven circulating libraries in Stockholm, a city of about 70000 inhabitants. There were also several booksellers who lent books on a less formal scale.

 

The seven libraries represent three different types according to their grade of autonomy. Historically the circulating library has grown out of the lending of books at the bookseller's. Magnus Swederus was first to ask for a permit to run a circulating library.1. When he started his library, he was already a bookseller with shops in Stockholm, Uppsala and Turku.2. Though he formalized the lending of books into a regular circulating library, the library was never run as an independant enterprise. It formed a unit with the bookshop. This is the first type of circulating library: a bookshop which is enlarged with a library.

Type two shows the opposite: a circulating library later enlarged with a bookshop. Less than a year after the colleague and cantor at the German college in Stockholm, Friedrich August Cleve, had got his permit to run a circulating library; he applied for a licence to become a bookseller in 1787.3. His enterprise would be strengthened by lending and selling books at the same time. A close connection between the circulating library and the bookshop meant that books no longer in demand in the library could be sold off, and the other way round, books that were difficult to sell could be lent. The librarian could acquire new books at wholesale prices when he was simultaneously a bookseller.

There were also entirely autonomous libraries in Stockholm. Despite economic difficulties, they both - Carl Conrad Behn's and Carl Eric Rademine's libraries from 1793 and 1798 - were longlived. They were well stocked and appreciated by the reading public. This might be due to the fact that the owner had to invest both capital and work only in the library. There was no competition from any rivalling side branch.

The conditions for loan in Stockholm did not differ much from those of Bristol or Vienna.4. Patrons subscribed for a certain period - longer loans for a year, shorter loans for a quarter or a month. During the subscribed period, the books could be changed freely.

For patrons living outside the city there were special rules. They could for example borrow more books at a time. But high transportation costs could become a hindrance for developing close connections with a patronage living in the country. The only possible patrons were wealthy families. Books were transported in a box with two keys: one for the librarian and one for the patron. There is also evidence that similar boxes were sent out from London and Paris to country people longing for books to read.5.

The fees for subscription were generally high. Borrowing books was certainly less expensive than buying them, but even wealthy people rarely bought such books as novels, as they were considered commodities. Compared to German library fees, the Swedish fees were considerably higher. In Germany a subscription for one year was equivalent to the price of 1 2/3 book, whereas in Stockholm the library fee in 1797 was

equivalent to almost six novels.6. In addition to the subscription fee the patron also had to pay a deposit which was sometimes as much as 2/3 of an annual subscription.

It was impossible to borrow books without a catalogue. Free access to the bookshelves was not permitted. Mostly books were not catalogued according to any identifiable system. The more experienced librarian presented his books according to their format. Sometimes a rough alphabetical order was respected. These unsophisticated catalogues must have confounded rather than guided the patron.

 

During a period when free trade did not exist, a new institution like the circulating library meant consequences of legal character. A practice to apply for a permit issued by the Chancellery of the Government was established. The applications and the records indicate that during the last decades of the 18th century, the attitude was rather confident. Only one of the seven applications was treated in a negative way; in this particular case the prospective librarian had no formal or practical qualifications for the commercial handling of books.7.

In 1801 the Chancellery of the Government was closed down and the task of supervising the book-trade was transferred to the Office of the Court Chancellor. The new organization made supervision far more effective. The circulating libraries were regularized, and it was made clear that no such library could be run without a permit from the authorities.8. The Office of the Court Chancellor was extremely restrictive in the granting of permits; only those who were already running bookshops had any hope of being granted a permit. The Court Chancellor noticed with obvious enthusiasm that only one of eight applications for a permit had been granted between 1802 and 1805.9. During the first decade of the 19th century the circulating libraries, which were increasingly in demand by a growing clientele, were actively opposed by the authorities.

In respect to language, Swedish circulating libraries differ from their English, German and French counterparts. It is unique that the native production occupies such a modest position. The Swedish production of books was insignificant, especially when compared to that of the great

European languages. It was carefully followed by authors and printers/editors, who suspiciously noted that Swedish books were lent rather than sold. The Printers' Society, a corporate society for printers, whose chairman was a Councillor appointed by the supervising authorities, tried to get control of the lending of Swedish books. Discussions were held concerning what restrictions ought to be made and there were several attempts to prohibit totally the lending of Swedish books.10. According to the reigning mercantile ideology there was no danger seen in lending foreign books - the fewer that were imported the better - but as soon as the sale of Swedish books was at stake, the interests of native producers had to be vigourously protected.

The issue of lending Swedish books was also dealt with in the patent letters for book-selling. Bo Bennich-Björkman has conscientiously studied these letters.11. Up to the end of the 1760s the lending of Swedish books in bookshops was prohibited by a paragraph in the patent letters. From 1769 until the end of 1787 this paragraph is missing in newly issued patent letters. In 1788 the librarian Cleve was prohibited to lend Swedish books in his bookshop. But he lent them in his library! In the summer of 1796 the prohibition paragraph disappeared once again only to pop up, causing great fuss, in a patent letter for Johan David Flintenberg, who applied for a privilege for bookselling and a permit for a circulating library at the same time in 1800. There is no definite solution to this problem until the constitution of 1809 presents new legislation for the book market, which also liberalizes the conditions of the circulating library.

Considering this background, it is only natural that the stress was on foreign books. Few Swedish books meant limitations in the public of the circulating libraries. To be able to profit fully from a subscription it was not enough to afford it economically, the borrower should preferably also know one or two foreign languages. But in Sweden, with a native tongue that was understood nowhere outside the Swedish borders, the general proficiency in foreign languages was relatively high. French still defended its position as the lingua franca of the court, the aristocracy, but also of an enlightened middle class. German held by tradition a strong position in Sweden, where commercial contacts with Germany were frequent. One advantage for the Swedish readers was that they were not obliged to wait for more or less corrupted Swedish translations; by reading in the original language the Swedish borrowers took part in a European fellowship of readers. Sweden might be a remote country but books spread remarkably fast.

The catalogues show the books that were available. Unfortunately they say nothing about which books were actually borrowed. But works that were at hand in more than one copy were certainly much in demand. And books that were requested back to the library in advertisements in the dailies had evidently been borrowed.12.

Using the catalogues it is possible to get an idea of the changes that the circulating libraries were subject to between 1783 and 1809. The circulating library that Swederus started in 1784 contained a large part of learned books, but also all kinds of manuals and books for light reading.13. His library was encyclopedic: it catered to all kinds of taste in a truly enlightened tradition. But the scholarly and scientific books never attracted the patrons. Swederus wrote in a letter from the time (1789) when he was winding up his business: ‘As soon as it concerns anything scientific [the books are] never opened, let alone lent.’14.

The acquisitions made for Cleve's library during the first years of the 1790s show another profile.15. The part of the scholarly and scientific books amounted to only 6%. At Swederus' library it had been as much as 39%. At Behn's library, which I have examined for the years 1801-02, the percentage of the scholarly and scientific literature is as low as at Cleve's.16. Cleve's and Behn's libraries mirror no encyclopedic ambition.

I have concentrated my investigation to books for light reading. In light reading I include not only fictional prose (i e mostly novels) but also other genres that are close: biographies and memoirs, travel books and theatre plays. By the extension of the term light literature to other genres than the novel it is possible to focus on the way the reader is affected by what he/she reads. This functional way of looking at the reading habit can be linked to the terms intensive and extensive reading introduced by Rolf Engelsing. The intensive reading, denoting contemplation of the text, was during the current period replaced by an extensive, consuming way of reading, which better suited the books for light reading.

In Swederus' encyclopedic library the books for light reading made up almost a third of what was offered in 1784 and 1785. A little more than half of this was fictional prose. Quite a few of the novels that were lent were of English origin. Tom Jones existed in two French editions and in a Swedish translation from 1765. The world success Pamela was also at hand. It had just been published in a much abridged Swedish edition (1783). In Swederus' library all the fathers of the novel were there. And so were the mothers. Novels by Eliza Haywood, Sarah Fielding, Fanny Burney and Frances Sheridan were available.

Even in the circulating libraries you could trace the special attention that was given to Jean François Marmontel. It is probable that the personal contact between the king, Gustaf III, and Marmontel had influenced the success of Marmontel's work.17. Other popular French authors were Restif de la Bretonne, Mme Riccoboni, Crébillon fils and Baculard d'Arnaud. More licentious prose narratives like Angola by La Morlière, Imrice by abbé Dulaurens and the fictive memoirs of Duclos were easy to find. And there were also pornographic books. Within reach on the shelves of Swederus' fashionable library the librarian could take down examples of impieties, immorality and attacks on established authorities. The clandestine books that Robert Darnton has mentioned as having contributed to the change in opinion that prepared for the French Revolution, could all be borrowed from the circulating libraries.

During the first years of the 1790s books for light reading made up as much as 60% of Cleve's total acquisition. Compared to Swederus' earlier library this category of books had doubled. More than half consisted of fictional prose. The English novelists were as well represented as at Swederus'. Now, however, it was even more obvious that the female novelists had taken the lead. At Cleve's library works by Charlotte Lennox, Elizabeth Helme, Charlotte Smith, Frances Brooke, Elizabeth Inchbald and Clara Reeve were also lent.

At this time the French books seemed somewhat obsolete. The Revolution had stopped the production of narrative prose. On the other hand German fictional prose was now discernible. The ‘Räuber’ had not yet made their entry, but early ‘Ritterromane’ told similar stories, only less violently.

The collection of books that Carl Conrad Behn put at the disposal of the inhabitants of Stockholm shortly after the turn of the century held an even larger part of light literature. It had then reached 70%. And of the 70% 61 was fictional prose. The novel had triumphed.

By then the German light literature had had its breakthrough. The greatest producer of fictional prose was August Lafontaine. He was introduced into Swedish circulating libraries in Swedish translations, original German editions and even in French translations. The first novel by Lafontaine in Swedish appeared in 1796. 71 works by Lafontaine, who wrote nearly 200, were translated into Swedish.18. No single author, perhaps with the exception of Sir Walter Scott, was ever as widely read and appreciated. Further the ‘Räuber’ flourished. The German Gothic seems to have gained ground from the more sophisticated Anglo-Saxon horror à la Ann Radcliffe. The circulating library showed signs of having changed from the encyclopedic model into a more specialized institution for light literature.

There are also visible changes as to the position of languages. The early Swederus' library offered mainly books in French. After French came German and only then Swedish. Books in English were rare. Few Swedes knew the English language. In Swederus' encyclopedic library there were more books in Latin than in English.

At the beginning of the 1790s, more than half of the acquisitions for the library of the German-born Cleve were in German. Books in French came next and number three were actually books in English. However, there was a gap between them. The French share was exactly one third, while books in English made up 6%; books in Swedish were as few as 3%.

Only at Behn's library do the books in Swedish attain a level that is comparable to the German or French. Books in German still dominate (Behn like Cleve was of German origin), but books in Swedish occupy second place (one third) with books in French in third place. The English part is still insignificant; it is even less important than in Cleve's library (4%).

 

As part of the marketing of his circulating library, Swederus published the names of his subscribers in a separate leaflet and in advertisements in one of the daily papers.19. The first list is headed by the names of the queen and the king's brother, Duke Charles. The 286 persons that are named have been grouped according to their sex and social position.

33 subscribers were women (11%). Compared to Paul Kaufman's study of James Marshal's circulating library at Bath 1793-99 the number

of Swedish women is low.20. At Bath the part of women was one third. Jan Fergus, who found a loan register from Warwick 1770-72, shows a majority of female patrons.21. Her material, however, is low: only 37 patrons.

But the importance of the female readers cannot be decided only by this kind of direct evidence. Married women could get access to the books of the circulating libraries through their husbands. Besides, other male relatives could serve as intermediaries for borrowing books. Women were almost invisible in public life, but upon closer examination you may find that they had tentacles out of their private sphere.

Many of the women who subscribed to Swederus' library were married to officers. A great majority of the women belonged to the highest social strata. More than half belonged to the nobility. But there were also two actresses from the French theatre company at court who subscribed to the newly started library.

The male patrons have been divided into six groups. The largest one consists of civil servants. Stockholm was the seat of the central public administration. In this group we find the socially dominating inhabitants. In the Governmental service departments there were to a great extent noble officials, but during the current period the career hitherto reserved for noblemen was no longer closed to commoners and these made a career within public administration.22.

The next group consists of military men. More than three fourths are noblemen. Group three consists of private tradesmen, manufacturers and their employees. They were the rising bourgeoisie that wanted to win or already had obtained considerable economic influence.

Royalty and courtiers form one important group. A symbiosis between the court, the highest administrators and the owners of successful companies make up the core of the clientele, in the same way as they served as upholders of culture in other instances. This group served as a model for the part of the population on the next rung of the social hierarchy.23. It could be regarded as a social investment to borrow books, despite the contempt for the circulating libraries, reading for

pleasure and the novel as a genre, that could be experienced from all parts of Europe including Sweden.

 

Towards the end of the actual period the circulating libraries were well established on the Swedish book market. The authorities would certainly have preferred to stop the circulating libraries, but had limited themselves to stopping only the new establishments. The increasing demand for books for light reading was both the result of and a condition for their survival. Furthermore the desire to read could not be controlled by legislation.

It was the specialized institution that was victorious. The encyclopedic library disappeared early from the market.

Swedish patrons were to a great extent offered books in foreign languages. During the 1790s Swedish translations of mostly German novels were particularly abundant. The first Swedish reading vogue was international: Swedish readers were part of a greater European reading culture.

During the 1780s when the fully equipped circulating library was a novelty in Stockholm, Swederus' library attracted the most influential circles of the city. There were, however, also representatives of the middle classes, but there is no trace of patrons of more popular origin. The Swedish ‘common reader’ would not attend the circulating library until much later in the 19th century. High fees and too many books in foreign languages kept the common people away for a long time.


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