Lost and Found: 19th Century Finnish Literature Exploration

 
Lost and Found in the 19th Century Finnish Literature.
Archives, Bibliographies and Digital Methods
 
 
 Veli-Matti Pynttäri
 
University of Eastern Finland
WP1 Literary history
Literary history in the long 19th century Finland
PI Kati Launis / University of Eastern Finland
WP 2 Data Science
Bibliographic data science
PI Leo Lahti / University of Turku
WP 3 Data and outreach
Digital Resources
PI Osma Suominen/ National Library
of Finland
 
Digital History for Literature in Finland
(Research Council of Finland, 2022-2026)
 
Goals
 
New knowledge from/of
 
Enhancing the
method
 
- authors and literary works
- bibliography and collections
- literary system in 19th
century
 
Improving the metadata
 
- harmonising the metadata
- corrections and supplements
to metadata
 
- mesoanalytical approach
- algorithmic analysis of
metadata
 
Building a model of
literary system in 19th
century
 
- ”The great unread”
 
The Great Fire of Turku
4 September, 1827
 
Fire effaced much of the
Medieval past of Turku
Of 12 000 inhabitants,  11 000
lost their homes
Compared to Fire of London in
1666
Beginning of the end of Turku
as capital of Finland
 
Royal Academy of Turku
 
Founded in 1640 by Queen  Kristina of
Sweden as  the third university of the
Kingdom
The First printing shop in Finland was
established in 1642 by Peder Walde
By the time of Turku Fire, the library of the
Academy consisted of appr. 
40 000 titles
Only 830 titles were saved
Destruction of the first collection of early
Finnish literature
 
Fredrik Wilhelm Pipping
(1783-1868)
 
Librarian in Academy of Turku, and later chief
librarian in Imperial Alexander University, Helsinki
Was tasked to re-collect the destroyed collection
of Academy of Turku library
In 20 years the collection in Helsinki was as big
as the one destroyed in Turku.
As a librarian Pipping was old school: he
organized the collection by the size of the volume
The only exception was 
Fennica
 – the collection
of Finnish Literature – that was collected and
organized by thematic criteria
 
Matti Pohto (1817-1857)
 
Uneducated peasant and shepherd, later
a bookseller, and an ardent lover of books
Collected Finnish literature one by one
from estates, households and book
sellers around Finland.
Donated the books to Pipping
contributing massively to Fennica
When Pipping published his bibliography
of Fennica in 1856-57 it mentioned appr.
5000 books, 3000 of these where owned
or collected by Matti Pohto
 
Defining Fennica
 
Building Fennica entailed definition of what
is ”Finnish literature”
Pipping: Everything published in Finland
and everything published by a Finn
Sven Gabriel Elmgren (1865):
All items published in Finnish
regardless of the place of publishing
Everything published in Finland
regardless of language
Every publication by a Finn or someone
who has lives in Finland regardless of
language
Georg Schauman (1913):
In addition to Elmgren everything that
handles Finland, its citizens, history or
languages regardless of place of
publication
 
Fennica today
 
https://www.kansalliskirjasto.fi/en/servi
ces/fennica-finnish-national-
bibliography
Information on books from 1488 and
newspapers from 1711 (+other
material)
Currently Fennica holds information on
1,216,737 items in total
1,060,937 books
228,868  fiction in book form
54,266 books in 1809-1917
 
 
Looking for fictive literature in Fennica
Fiction in Fennica 1809-1917
(+9000 titles)
Filtered set of fiction in
Fennica 1809-1917
(≈4500 titles)
Curated set of fiction in
Fennica 1809-1917
(≈3000 titles)
 
Library location markings (signum)
 
Why not UDC?
 
- fiction
- language (Finnish or Swedish)
- genre (novel, lyric, drama, short stories)
- translations and childrens literature excluded
 
Manual cleaning
 
Exclusion of
- reprints
- anthologies
- collected works
- translations
- broadsheet literature
 
First editions of fiction in
book form published
originally in Finnish or
Swedish
 
Challenges today
 
Nature of metadata
- inadequte data especially in relation to source language, number of editions,
pseudonyms or mistaken identities
 
Nature of collections
- uncatalogued titles
- cataloging is subjective process that has taken place and continues to take place
in historical circumstances
 
Nature of 19th century history
- bilingual culture
- transnational reality -> question of nationalities
- undefined publishing environment (especially first half of the century)
 
Nature of subjective component
- how to define fiction, different genres or literature?
- how to be consistent?
 
Veli-Matti Pynttäri
University of Eastern Finland
veli-matti.pynttari@uef.fi
+358400492277
 
Thank you!
 
https://sites.utu.fi/digital-history-literature-finland/
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Exploring the 19th-century Finnish literature through archives, bibliographies, and digital methods. Efforts to improve metadata, discover new knowledge about authors and works, and reconstruct the literary system disrupted by historical events like the Great Fire of Turku.

  • Finnish literature
  • Digital methods
  • Metadata improvement
  • Historical events
  • Literary exploration

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  1. Lostand Foundin the19th CenturyFinnishLiterature. Archives, Bibliographies and Digital Methods Veli-Matti Pyntt ri University of Eastern Finland

  2. Digital History for Literature in Finland (Research Council of Finland, 2022-2026) WP1 Literary history Literary history in the long 19th century Finland PI Kati Launis / University of Eastern Finland WP 3 Data and outreach Digital Resources PI Osma Suominen/ National Library of Finland WP 2 Data Science Bibliographic data science PI Leo Lahti / University of Turku

  3. Goals Improving the metadata New knowledge from/of - authors and literary works - bibliography and collections - literary system in 19th century - harmonising the metadata - corrections and supplements to metadata Enhancing the method Building a model of literary system in 19th century - mesoanalytical approach - algorithmic analysis of metadata - The great unread

  4. The Great Fire of Turku 4 September, 1827 Fire effaced much of the Medieval past of Turku Of 12 000 inhabitants, 11 000 lost their homes Compared to Fire of London in 1666 Beginning of the end of Turku as capital of Finland

  5. Royal Academy of Turku Founded in 1640 by Queen Kristina of Sweden as the third university of the Kingdom The First printing shop in Finland was established in 1642 by Peder Walde By the time of Turku Fire, the library of the Academy consisted of appr. 40 000 titles Only 830 titles were saved Destruction of the first collection of early Finnish literature

  6. Fredrik Wilhelm Pipping (1783-1868) Librarian in Academy of Turku, and later chief librarian in Imperial Alexander University, Helsinki Was tasked to re-collect the destroyed collection of Academy of Turku library In 20 years the collection in Helsinki was as big as the one destroyed in Turku. As a librarian Pipping was old school: he organized the collection by the size of the volume The only exception was Fennica the collection of Finnish Literature that was collected and organized by thematic criteria

  7. Matti Pohto (1817-1857) Uneducated peasant and shepherd, later a bookseller, and an ardent lover of books Collected Finnish literature one by one from estates, households and book sellers around Finland. Donated the books to Pipping contributing massively to Fennica When Pipping published his bibliography of Fennica in 1856-57 it mentioned appr. 5000 books, 3000 of these where owned or collected by Matti Pohto

  8. Defining Fennica Building Fennica entailed definition of what is Finnish literature Pipping: Everything published in Finland and everything published by a Finn Sven Gabriel Elmgren (1865): All items published in Finnish regardless of the place of publishing Everything published in Finland regardless of language Every publication by a Finn or someone who has lives in Finland regardless of language Georg Schauman (1913): In addition to Elmgren everything that handles Finland, its citizens, history or languages regardless of place of publication

  9. Fennica today https://www.kansalliskirjasto.fi/en/servi ces/fennica-finnish-national- bibliography Information on books from 1488 and newspapers from 1711 (+other material) Currently Fennicaholds information on 1,216,737 items in total 1,060,937 books 228,868 fiction in book form 54,266 books in 1809-1917

  10. Looking for fictive literature in Fennica Library location markings (signum) - fiction - language (Finnish or Swedish) - genre (novel, lyric, drama, short stories) - translations and childrens literature excluded Why not UDC? Fiction in Fennica 1809-1917 (+9000 titles) Filtered set of fiction in Fennica 1809-1917 ( 4500 titles) Curated set of fiction in Fennica 1809-1917 ( 3000 titles) Manual cleaning Exclusion of - reprints - anthologies - collected works - translations - broadsheet literature First editions of fiction in book form published originally in Finnish or Swedish

  11. Challenges today Nature of metadata - inadequte data especially in relation to source language, number of editions, pseudonyms or mistaken identities Nature of collections - uncatalogued titles - cataloging is subjective process that has taken place and continues to take place in historical circumstances Nature of 19th century history - bilingual culture - transnational reality -> question of nationalities - undefined publishing environment (especially first half of the century) Nature of subjective component - how to define fiction, different genres or literature? - how to be consistent?

  12. Thank you! Veli-Matti Pyntt ri University of Eastern Finland veli-matti.pynttari@uef.fi +358400492277 https://sites.utu.fi/digital-history-literature-finland/

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