CHAPTER TEN

CONCLUSION

e main aim of this study has been to present an outline of books occurring in early modern Norway, that is, to provide descriptions of longer continuities as well as specic moments of change. It is my over- all contention that the Norwegian book market was European, for books in early modern Norway were characterised by internationality in two dierent senses, one indicative of restrictiveness and the other identied with heterogeneity. As part of a broader European phenom- enon, religiously and politically motivated measures taken to control the printed word decisively shaped the market for books in early mod- ern Norway, and as a result the market for non-specialist literature was marked by a certain rigidity. Counterbalancing this inexibility, how- ever, were the numerous books that had travelled from even further than Copenhagen, the main centre of book production within the dual monarchy, works that had mostly originated in northern European countries and brought variety in subject matter and approach across Norwegian borders. My study of book occurrences in early modern Norway has been carried out according to a ‘diusionist’ methodology, namely, by inves- tigating the distribution of various types of print material. e primary sources used in this presentation consist mainly of inventories and auction and library catalogues. ere are, as I noted at the outset, vari- ous problems with such an approach, one being that these records are not fully reliable sources. ey rarely include all books in circulation. We also cannot know if the titles recorded in the source material cor- respond precisely to the original works. Despite such shortcomings, the use of this particular type of material has some very specic advan- tages in the Norwegian context. As printing houses were established on Norwegian soil relatively late, and even then were not able to meet overall book demand, book imports were necessary. And, as little research in this eld has been done hitherto, the lists of books in auc- tion catalogues and inventories can at least provide us, albeit indirectly, with the results of this vigorous overseas trade. 214 chapter ten

What, then, can be said about book distribution in early modern Norway? Several broader European-wide developments that had repercussions for the world of books are also attested in early modern Norway. First, we return to that restrictiveness noted above, not least as it affected popular religious books. Throughout the early modern period there was a commitment to ensure Lutheranism was omnipres- ent; other belief systems were to be supressed. In order to combat Roman Catholic beliefs and practices, and, not least, to create a Lutheran society, instructional and edifying books were made availa- ble on the market in high numbers. As shown in chapter 3, these endeavours proved successful: religious books were purchased by the early modern reader and many remained bestsellers for a long time. A significant section of these books was formed by instructional manuals such as catechisms and ABCs, and by a cluster of edifying texts. The authors of these works belonged mainly to late sixteenth- or seven- teenth-century Lutheran orthodoxy, and book distribution suggests they remained the most widely regarded writers throughout the whole of the early modern period. Only at the end of the eighteenth century did Pietist and Enlightenment-inspired literature appear with increas- ing frequency in the book collections of ordinary people as religious works gradually lost their pre-eminent position as the amount of non- religious literature grew. Replicating a pattern in other European coun- tries, book ownership amongst the general public in early modern Norway was characterised by the longevity of certain types of tradi- tional religious works. The significance of confessionalisation can be observed when we look at book distribution among the Norwegian clergy. As in other European countries, the inculcation of a specific belief system through relevant educational institutions was of prime importance in moulding a clergy which, in its turn, should expose its parishioners to the true faith. In the Norwegian context, one result of this instruction was the pervasive dissemination of German authors, which signalled the strong confessional bonds between Denmark-Norway and German Lutheran territories. As such, the Norway-Denmark-Germany axis seems to have been of great significance to the dissemination of spe- cialist literature, and two cities in particular—Frankfurt am Main and Leipzig—were funnels through which books travelled. The influence of German authors and works was pervasive but not impartial. Most of the religious books originating in German lands were written by authors associated with Lutheran orthodoxy, whether in its early, high