History of Photography in the Nordic Countries: A reasoned bibliography of sources and history of photography research for the period from 1839 to 1865

The present reasoned bibliography was published in Swedish in 1990 as part of a series of reports issued by Linköping University, Arbetsrapporter från Tema Kommunikation, as number 1990:4 in the series. It gained some diffusion among history of photography specialists in the Nordic countries, but was never printed. In the thirty years that have passed since then, no new and comprehensive reasoned bibliography of the earliest Nordic history of photography has been published. There are therefore reasons for making the bibliography available in a digital format, in Swedish as well as in English.

The survey is structured such that each country is dealt with separately, and the sources divided into contemporary sources, later publications, and research. The presentation of contemporary sources – unprinted sources, commentary in newspapers and periodicals, and manuals from 1839-1865 – still constitutes a current overview from each Nordic country. The presentation of later publications, however, goes no further than 1990. The infrastructure and focus of research have changed radically over the past three decades. Rather than updating the bibliography with research literature from the current era, I have chosen to present it as a historiographic snapshot from 1990. That will allow it to serve as a starting point for other research overviews with current assumptions and perspectives.