Ivar Wadensjö Bookplate Collection
Ivar Wadensjö (1900-1963) was a vicar in Tranemo. Beyond his clerical work, his efforts extended to botany as well as mycology, poetry, literature and local history. He had a fervent interest in literature, and owned an extensive bookplate collection.
About the collection
The Wadensjö bookplate collection spans 48 archival boxes and includes both Swedish and foreign bookplates from the 20th century. In the collections of the library are also a number of letters to Ivar Wadensjö from dentist and bookplate collector Gunnar Trönnberg (1904-1985). These two gentlemen exchanged bookplates with one another, and their correspondence is a goldmine of detailed information about, and analysis of, the bookplates of various people.
Acquisition history
How the Ivar Wadensjö bookplate collection came to the Gothenburg University Library is not confirmed in any written documents. According to Ivar's son Bengt Wadensjö, his father's extensive library was sent to the Gumperts antiquarian bookshop in Gothenburg in connection with Wadensjö's passing. It is highly likely the bookplate collection was part of this shipment.
Gumperts was managed by Arvid Mårtensson, himself a renowned collector of books and bookplates, and we know that beyond his own collection, Mårtensson also donated the bookplate collection of Gustaf Berndtsson, purchased from Berndtsson himself. In the papers left by Mårtensson concerning bookplates, are the letters of dentist Gunnar Trönnbergs to Ivar Wadensjö, which also indicates that the Wadensjö collection came to the library through the efforts of Arvid Mårtensson.
Access the collection
The collection is held in the closed stacks at the Humanities library. It is available for reading room use only.
Catalogue
The collection has not been catalogued.
There is no inventory.
Humanities library
Renströmsgatan 4
405 30 GOTHENBURG
Phone: 031-786 17 45
Text:
Kristina Sevo, with contributions by Bengt Wadensjö.
Biography
Wadensjö features in the press a few times a year, for about three decades. Many of the notices concern his private life. The banns and wedding with Eva Hellqvist were announced in all major papers, and the wedding was held on July 5th, 1934 in the Tranemo church. The couple also announced the births of their children in the papers, Bengt, Ingegerd and Margareta. Eva turns 50, Ivar turns 50. Among the private announcements are also the formalities of death, represented by obituaries and laconic memorials. The press clippings that are public rather than private concern Wadensjö's working life: weddings, baptisms and funerals. Small notes surface in the press - no lengthy texts, just a few sentences including his name.
Throught the years, Wadensjö was a candidate in the vicar elections in various parishes. The elections were announced in the papers, with the candidates and elected names presented. Wadensjö would remain in Sjötofta and Tranemo for the rest of his working life.
On his 50th birthday, on January 7th 1950, the Göteborgs handels- och sjöfartstidning (GHT) published a brief note that mentions his birthplace, Sibbarp in the province of Halland. He attended the Katrineberg community college and the Private elementary school of Lund, later studying theology at Lund University. He took holy orders in Gothenburg in 1929. Following this, he served as a clergyman in Vallda and Foss, both parishes in the diocese of Gothenburg. In the same year, 1929, he came to the Tranemo parish, where he was appointed assistant vicar in Sjötofta. Sjötofta is part of the Tranemo parish, which in turn was part of the Gothenburg diocese. From 1957, Wadensjö served as the vicar of Tranemo.
Beyond his work within the clergy, he was chair of the Board of the Elementary School and the Sjötofta Red Cross circle. The celebratory note ends with the observation that Wadensjö is a frequently requested speaker, which is not noted anywhere else, at leat not in print. Ivar Wadensjö could act, at times, as an advocate of the people, like when pleading in an open letter in the Västgöta-Demokraten (December 1960) to member of the Riksdag Ragnar Svenningsson to extend some seasonal peace over Christmas to the Municipality of Tranemo - between the lines, a request to stop appealing against a host of trivial decisions being made.
In his own time, Ivar Wadensjö hosted mushroom-picking excursions, and immersed himself in botany. He gathered plants along with his son Bengt, who mentions their herbarium of over 800 plants, several of which were rarities. Father and son had a mutual interest in local history, and both contributed to a monograph on the Sjötofta parish. Wadensjö also had an interest in art and literature. In time, his book collection filled the shelves in double rows. His sense of order was that of a librarian: the bookplate collection is well documented.
Ivar Wadensjö died while on official business, on the 17th of July, 1963, a mere 63 years old.
Read more
Sjötofta socken: historia och beskrivning av Sjötofta studiecirkel i hembygdskunskap, [Sjötofta studiecirkel i hembygdskunskap], [Sjötofta], 1951.
Vem är vem? Götalandsdelen utom Skåne, 1948.
Om "julefridsvädjan" kan läsas i Expressen, 1960-12-18, s. 9, i Aftonbladet 1960-12-18, s. 6. och i Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning, 1960-12-19, s.10 & 1960-12-23, s. 5.
Suggested research topics
- An overview of the collection's contents. What is represented here, and how does it mirror the time and context of the material?
- Biographical research
- Selection of images.
- Bookplates as an art form.
- Printing techniques.
- The structure and assembly of the collection.
- Artists represented in the collection.
- Please contact us if you have any suggested research topics you would like to share!