cultural resources in henrik ibsen's early environment - Ibsen.net

III. The book collection of the Løvenskiold family as of 1843.
Following is a list of titles published before 1844 in the book collection of the
Løvenskiold family of Skien. There are more than 900 titles, some representing more
than one volume. The list is organized by the last name of the author, and is based on a
bibliography made by Anne Grete Holm Olsen in 1961.
The fact that the publication date of a book is earlier than 1844 does not prove it was in
the collection at that time. However, normal practice is to buy a book when it is new and
in print. Especially for books published well before 1844, the likelihood is great that they
were in the collection.
The estate of the Løvenskiold family, Fossum, was less than two kilometers from the
Ibsens’ farm at Venstøp. Knud Ibsen at times worked in the main house at Fossum as an
accountant, so it is physically possible that he borrowed books from the collection,
although we have no anecdotal evidence that he did so. Still, the existence of the
collection is evidence of the cultural environment in which Henrik Ibsen grew up, not
least because his elementary school teachers, who are believed to have been Hans
Isachsen and Christen Lund, were also teachers at Fossum. As a young man, Lund was a
tutor of the Løvenskiold children, and was later the director of a teacher’s college
operated at the Gjerpen parish farm. Isachsen was also a tutor of the family’s children, as
well as a teacher at a school on the estate, which in the 1830s, when Henrik started
school, had 90 students, according to Halvdan Koht. We do not know whether Henrik
attended this school, but he probably did, since he learned both German and French while
he lived in Skien. Even if he did not learn these languages at the school on the Fossum
estate, but rather had private instruction, Lund and Isachsen were probably his teachers,
and they certainly had access to the Løvenskiolds’ book collection.
Abhandlungen und Beobachtungen durch die ökonomisch Gesellschaft zu Bern
gesammelt. Bern, 1762-73.
Abraham a S. Clara, Augustiner Barfüsser [pseud. for Hans Ubrich Megerle]. Heilsames
Gemisch-Gemasch. Würtzburg, 1704.
Abrantes, Laure Junot d'. Memoires. Souvenirs historiques sur Napoléon, la révolution,
le directoire, le consulat, l'empire et la restauration. Vols. 1-10. Paris, 1831-33.
Acerbi, Joseph. Reich durch Schweden und Finnland, bis an die äussersten Gränzen von
Lappland, in den Jahren 1789 und 1799. Aus dem Englischen übers. von Ch. Weyland.
Berlin, 1803.
39