Oscar and Bertil Almgren Collection
This collection was created by Oscar Almgren - the first person in Sweden to be appointed professor of ”Nordic and comparative antiquarianism” in Uppsala, which was previously the term for archaeology. The material has seen later additions made by Oscar's son Bertil, also a professor of archaeology in Uppsala. The collection includes about 2 400 monographs and a smaller selection of offprints, as well as a number of journals. It spans 40 metres.
About the collection
The scientific library of Oscar Almgren was augmented by his son Bertil. One of the great values of this collection is that it displays the wide-ranging international outlook and the network of contacts that Oscar and later Bertil Almgren had. The time when Oscar worked was an important, formative period for archaeology as a scientific discipline. A large portion of the volumes are signed, and have been marked with details on when and where they were acquired. Many of them constitute gifts from colleagues, with more or less detailed dedications. This fact makes it relevant to maintain the collection as a whole, including materials that overlap the existing collections of the University Library. Further, the collection still constitutes a foundation for references and serves as a source material for international comparisons within research relating to rock art and Bronze Age archaeology.
A complement to the collection is the extensive documentation maintained by the Swedish Rock Art Research Archives (SHFA), not least in the form of photographs contributed by, among others, Bertil Almgren.
Oscar was the grandson of Knut Almgren who founded the K. A. Almgren silk weaving mill. Oscar's father and grandfather were both factory owners and merchants, as well as political figures. They were elected members of the Riksdag of the Estates and the Bicameral parliament, respectively.
Acquisition history
The collection was donated to the University Library in 2022, by the Swedish Rock Art Research Archives (SHFA). It has previously been held at the Vitlycke museum since 2012, when it was donated to the SHFA. The collection was transferred to the University Library in connection with SFHA being established as a research infrastructure at the University of Gothenburg. At this, SHFA was relocated to the Humanities Faculty at the university, which made donating and relocating the collection to the University Library a natural step.
The fact that the collection was originally donated to SFHA by the Almgren family was mainly due to Oscar's and Bertil's great scientific interest in rock art, including not least the rock carvings at Tanum.
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 is currently being catalogued, and is partially available in our online catalogue.
In Libris
In Supersearch
Humanities library
Renströmsgatan 4
405 30 GOTHENBURG
Phone: 031-786 17 45
Text:
Anders Strinnholm
The collection is partially catalogued by Kristina Sevo.
Biography
Oscar Almgren (1869–1945) was born in Stockholm and graduated from the Högre latinläroverket in Södermalm (the Södra latin) in 1886 and was enrolled at Uppsala university in the same year. He earned his B. A. in 1889 and in 1897 he defended his doctoral thesis and was made lecturer of comparative antiquarianism.
Oscar Almgren was the first person in Sweden to be appointed as professor of "Nordic and comparative antiquarianism", this too at Uppsala University.
Bertil Almgren (1918–2011) was born in Uppsala. He graduated in 1936, was made a Licentiate of Philosophy in 1946 and Doctor of Philosophy in 1955. He was appointed as professor of archaeology in Uppsala in 1965, a position which he held until 1984. Bertil was one of the driving forces behind the rock carving museum at Tanum, and was generally very much invested in popular scientific mediation long before this became a formally established task of the university.
Read more
Ny donation om gamla saker - about the collection, from Marginalia
Svenskt Hällristningsforskningsarkiv
On Oscar Almgren via Wikipedia
On Oscar Almgren via the Swedish National Archives
On Bertil Almgren via Wikipedia
On Bertil Almgren via The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities
Unesco on the rock carvings at Tanum
Bertil Almgren, offprint from: Årsbok 2012 KVHAA Stockholm 2012
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.
- Comparison with other, similar collections.
- Presentation of archaeological finds and working methods in older and more recent literature.
- Instructive renditions of archaeological methods.
- Archaeological practice and ethics from an historical perspective.
Please contact us if you have any suggested research topics you would like to share!