A good amount of the dissertations defended at the Royal Academy of Turku 1642-1828 have been digitized and published at the Doria-database.
The Academy was the second university established in the Swedish realm. Until 1828 it was the only centre of academic learning in Finland. After Turku burnt in 1827, and as the Russian authorities who have annexed Finland to Russian empire in 1809 wanted to release the ties to Swedish tradition, the university moved to Helsinki.
While the academy resided in Turku, almost 4500 dissertation were defended there. A list of the dissertations was published in early 1960s, and now all 1778 dissertations printed in Latin or Swedish - ca. 45 000 pages - have been digitized. The work will continue in near future. The earliest dissertations were published mostly in Latin, but during the 18th century Swedish - the mother tongue of learned people also in Finland - was used more frequently.
Dissertations were quite frequently written by the supervisor: the young defendant's task was to show, that he was capable to discuss about the subject of the dissertation and defend its findings. As a result, many dissertations are works of proven scholars. The collection includes for example dissertations guided by Pehr Kalm, who became famous in the 18th century for his travel books of North America.
2010/04/21
The Most Beautiful Book of Finland in 2009
While we are preparing our next entry about the latest achievements of Finnish book history, we would like to show you the most beautiful book of the year.
This year The Finnish Book Arts Committee chose Amour unit deux coeurs - Henry Lönnforsin miniatyyrikokoelma, Henry Lönnfors miniatyrsamling as the main prize winner. The book introduces Henry Lönnfors' collection of miniature paintings, which he donated to the Turku Art Museum in 2004. The collection was exhibited for the first time last year. Most of the miniature paintings are Swedish works from the late 18th century and early 19th century, but the collection contains also several central European miniatures from the 17th century to the 19th century.
The Finnish Book Arts Committee announces that it seeks to "focus attention on books as art objects. In selecting the year´s most beautiful books, the committee looks for works that integrate content and design as well as possible. The criteria span the book´s graphic design as a whole, starting with the typography and ending with the complete printed product. The committee appreciates both the classic printing arts and fresh, new creative ideas." This time the committee praised, among other things, how both old and new techniques had been used successfully to create the book, and how the book as an object had been created on the content's terms.
This year The Finnish Book Arts Committee chose Amour unit deux coeurs - Henry Lönnforsin miniatyyrikokoelma, Henry Lönnfors miniatyrsamling as the main prize winner. The book introduces Henry Lönnfors' collection of miniature paintings, which he donated to the Turku Art Museum in 2004. The collection was exhibited for the first time last year. Most of the miniature paintings are Swedish works from the late 18th century and early 19th century, but the collection contains also several central European miniatures from the 17th century to the 19th century.
The Finnish Book Arts Committee announces that it seeks to "focus attention on books as art objects. In selecting the year´s most beautiful books, the committee looks for works that integrate content and design as well as possible. The criteria span the book´s graphic design as a whole, starting with the typography and ending with the complete printed product. The committee appreciates both the classic printing arts and fresh, new creative ideas." This time the committee praised, among other things, how both old and new techniques had been used successfully to create the book, and how the book as an object had been created on the content's terms.
2010/03/15
Mapping Stars
Exhibitions on book history are relatively rare in Finland, but the National Library of Finland makes a great exception: a continuous flow of exhibitions on books and and their writers, producers, and readers is one of its most visible activities. During the renovation of late 1990s the National Library opened new exhibition rooms and has ever since shown its own treasures as well as invited scholars and book collectors to show their wide learning and special collections.
The current main exhibition in the Gallery of the library is The View From Paradise. The History of the Maps of the Heavens. The exhibition shows the history of viewing, illustrating and mapping of heavens from Antiquity to the present day from the scientific, cultural and historical perspectives. The exhibition was planned by professor Tapio Markkanen, and the event belongs to the activities of the International Year of Astronomy (2009).
The exhibition displays treasures from the National Library’s collections. Many of the maps come from the Nordenskiöld Collection. This collection is probably the most famous collection of the library. Scientist and explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1832–1901) collected thousands of maps (mostly historical), geographical literature and travel books, and nowadays the collection is inscribed in UNESCO’s Memory of the World register.
The exhibition is divided in three parts: first it shows the development of astronomy from the Antiquity to the Renaissance. The oldest works displayed date from the late 15th century. Ptolemy's Almagest was the key title for astronomical information until the explorations ond scientific works of Tycho Brahe and Nikolaus Copernicus – also shown at the exhibition – changed the view. The exhibition also show important books which moulded people's understanding but have since been forgotten: Alessandro Piccolomini is presented as one of the early writers to popularize astronomy in the 16th century.
The second part of the exhibition belongs to star cataloguing, and shows Finnish scholars at their work. Finland had its own place in the global research networks since the 18th century, when French scientist Pierre-Louis de Maupertuis traveled to North of Finland to measure a degree of latitude along a line of longitude to investigate whether the earth was flattened at its poles. During the early 19th century Finnish astronomers began to participate in the international mapping efforts. But all was not professional: also hobbyists’ star atlases and guidebooks from the 1800s to the present day are also shown.
Finally the exhibitions shows pieces of traditional equipment as well as pictures of the University of Helsinki Observatory, built in 1834. The Department of Astronomy used the observatory until last year.
The View from Paradise closes at the end of April. Soon after, the library will open a new exhibition What could kill the Book. The Book Now and in the Future in the gallery. In the Rotunda the library is also preparing to open an exhibition on Kalevala, the Finnish national epic which was first published 175 years ago. Both will be open during SHARP's annual conference in August.
The current main exhibition in the Gallery of the library is The View From Paradise. The History of the Maps of the Heavens. The exhibition shows the history of viewing, illustrating and mapping of heavens from Antiquity to the present day from the scientific, cultural and historical perspectives. The exhibition was planned by professor Tapio Markkanen, and the event belongs to the activities of the International Year of Astronomy (2009).
The exhibition displays treasures from the National Library’s collections. Many of the maps come from the Nordenskiöld Collection. This collection is probably the most famous collection of the library. Scientist and explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1832–1901) collected thousands of maps (mostly historical), geographical literature and travel books, and nowadays the collection is inscribed in UNESCO’s Memory of the World register.
The exhibition is divided in three parts: first it shows the development of astronomy from the Antiquity to the Renaissance. The oldest works displayed date from the late 15th century. Ptolemy's Almagest was the key title for astronomical information until the explorations ond scientific works of Tycho Brahe and Nikolaus Copernicus – also shown at the exhibition – changed the view. The exhibition also show important books which moulded people's understanding but have since been forgotten: Alessandro Piccolomini is presented as one of the early writers to popularize astronomy in the 16th century.
The second part of the exhibition belongs to star cataloguing, and shows Finnish scholars at their work. Finland had its own place in the global research networks since the 18th century, when French scientist Pierre-Louis de Maupertuis traveled to North of Finland to measure a degree of latitude along a line of longitude to investigate whether the earth was flattened at its poles. During the early 19th century Finnish astronomers began to participate in the international mapping efforts. But all was not professional: also hobbyists’ star atlases and guidebooks from the 1800s to the present day are also shown.
Finally the exhibitions shows pieces of traditional equipment as well as pictures of the University of Helsinki Observatory, built in 1834. The Department of Astronomy used the observatory until last year.
The View from Paradise closes at the end of April. Soon after, the library will open a new exhibition What could kill the Book. The Book Now and in the Future in the gallery. In the Rotunda the library is also preparing to open an exhibition on Kalevala, the Finnish national epic which was first published 175 years ago. Both will be open during SHARP's annual conference in August.
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