Stig Roth Miniatures Collection

About the collection

All in all, the collection amounts to 142 volumes. Most of them fall within the definition of "miniatures" or "micro-miniatures", the latter with measurements less than about 2.5 cm in size. Several of the books come with accessory slipcases, capsules or boxes, some of them fitted with magnifying glasses to facilitate reading to some - small - degree. The whole collection is housed in a case designed as a miniature bookcase, which has later been fitted with a glass lid. 

Among the more noteworthy objects in the Roth collection is the letter from Galileo to Christina of Lorraine, originally from 1615, in this case reprinted in Florence in 1895, neatly encased in the shell of a beechnut. 

The oldest item in the collection is Een lijten psalm-book, ther utinnan the förnämbste psalmer som i Gudz försambling siungas, published in Strängnäs in 1661. It features in the library holdings in another 7 editions. 

Acquisition history

Stig Roth sold his collection anonymously to the then Gothenburg city library (currently the Gothenburg University Library) in 1940. His intent was to provide a gift for the charity initative known as Finlandsinsamlingen, which received the money that the library, in turn, used to pay for the collection of miniatures. The means for the purchase had been donated by the Library's steadfast benefactor, apothecary Gustaf Bernström. In an article from January 13^th 1940, Böckernas Mikrokosmos, the GHT writes about the handover of the collection and how, "in the innermost chambers of the library one had the pleasure to see the collector arrange his little library for the last time, in a farewell that must have caused him a deal of pain." 

Before Roth's donation, the library had not previously had any significant numbers of miniatures. As was customary when accepting various donations at the time, the books were incorporated into the general holdings. Only in the accession catalogue for 1940 (p. 373–376) can we trace the inventory that includes works both by Goethe and Shakespeare, donated by the Finlandshjälpen aid initiative and their auction, Pro Finlandia. Roth's name is nowhere to be found, according to his wish to remain anonymous.  

The donation also included a number of documents concerning miniature books. Later still, the library has received additional materials on Stig Roth from his wife Mona, and in 1990 a collection of letters and various biographical documents on Roth were donated by Mrs Anna Greta Holm, from Malmö.

Biography

Stig Adolf Roth, PhD, was an art historian, museum curator and director of the Gothenburg museum of history. His parents, dentist Adolf Roth and Kjersti Davida Svensson lived in Malmö.

Roth worked at several of the Gothenburg museums; as an assistant at the Gothenburg museum and the Gothenburg art museum, and later as curator and director of the Gothenburg museum of history in 1935–1965. He worked as an assistant archaeologist during the excavations at Gamla Lödöse in 1917 and 1919, and headed the excavation work at Gudhem abbey in 1928–1948.

Stig Roth has a fervent interest in art, which had been founded early, perhaps in his time working at the Röhsska Museum of Design and Craft during his school breaks. He was acquainted with the founder of the Röhsska Museum, Axel Nilsson and his family, and worked as an assistant at exhibitions. 

In 1926 Stig Roth married Mona S. Bratt, born in 1902. She was the daughter of merchant Gustaf B. Westerberg and his wife Olga. Mona Roth shared her husband's interest in culture and the arts. 

Stig Roth was extensively engaged in the cultural life of Gothenburg. He was the secretary of the Gothenburg Tercentennial Jubilee Exposition, and of the arts committee in 1923, secretary and curator of the Gothenburg art association in 1933, board member at the Gunnebo House from 1949, chair of the Swedish section of (what is now) the Nordic Museum Association 1953–1956, a member of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in Gothenburg from 1944 and its chair in 1954.

Roth wrote a number of books on art history, and had a particular interest in, among other things, Japanese netsuke, or miniature figurines. His love of small-scale objects manifested beyond miniature books. Several writings on netsuke can also be found in the Herbert Blomstedt Collection at the Humanities Library.

During the Second World War, Roth served as an officer of the Swedish M group of the C-bureau, the Swedish military intelligence agency. Here, the nation assisted the Norwegian resistance during the Nazi occupation of Norway. Part of Roth's assignment was to serve as Swedish commander of the transit of German troops through Sweden - the trains that passed Sweden and Gothenburg on their way between Norway and Germany, and were also used for deporting prisoners of war. Here, he had the opportunity to carry out his actual mission: to co-ordinate the contacts between the Norwegian home front and their representatives on Swedish soil. Another member of the group was museum director Gustaf Munthe (1896–1962). Roth documented their efforts in his report Kontakt över gränsen which is now available online via a number of Norwegian archival bodies, as well as in the manuscripts collection of the University Library, in a previously sealed and restricted capsule which has since been made available. After the war had ended, Stig Roth was awarded the King Haakon VII Freedom Cross.

Read more

Elfving, Folke (1996). Kring Göteborgs museum: händelser, människor, minnen. Göteborg: Tre böcker. p. 70-74.

Engström, Gösta (1966). Om miniatyrböcker. Stockholm: Sällsk. Bokvännerna

Göteborgs Högskolas Studentkår 1921-1931: Porträttalbum, published by the Göteborgs högskolas studentkår, Wald. Zachrissons Boktryckeri, Göteborg 1932 p. 45.

Stig Roth via Wikipedia

Stig Roth. Dagbok 1942 - 1945 via Arkivportalen, Norges Hjemmefrontmuseum

Stig Roth: "Kontakt over gränsen. Et svensk-norskt samarbete under Norges ockupation" via Arkivportalen, Norges Hjemmefrontmuseum

Vem är det : svensk biografisk handbok, 1969

Wulvaricht (2009). Spionage i Göteborg under andra världskriget: hemlig tysk och allierad verksamhet i Göteborg 1939-1945. Göteborg: Alruna. p. 25-28.

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?
• Bibliographical research.
• Comparisons with other similar collections of miniature books.
• Stig Roth's service during WWII.
• Finlandshjälpen, Pro Finlandia and various related relief efforts.
• Miniature books in Sweden, book history and collectors.
• Printing and bookbinding techniques for miniature books. 

Please contact us if you have any suggested research topics you would like to share!