The Leufsta Library

The 18th century library at Lövstabruk in Northern Uppland is part of Uppsala University Library since 1986. The book collection was gathered by several members of the De Geer-family, and contains a number of different subjects. For security reasons all valuable works are kept at Uppsala University Library.

Read about the project The Library of Leufstabruk (2018-2020)

Two wings with manorial roofs were constructed next to the manor house by the pond as early as the 1730s, intended to keep the library and the natural cabinet. Charles De Geer the entomologist (1720–1778) demolished these in 1757 and replaced them with the pavilions that we see there today, which were designed by court architect Jean Eric Rehn and built 1757–1758. The interior was also made by Jean Eric Rehn and has been kept until today, although some minor changes have been made through the centuries. The new library and natural cabinet were finished in 1762 at the latest.

Charles the entomologist, who is the most important character in the history of this library, started his book collecting early in his home town of Utrecht, which abounded with bookshops and publishers. He also made frequent visits to Amsterdam, the Hague and Leiden, all of which were of great importance for the European book trade of the time.

Journals like Gazette de Leyde and Leidse Courant were Charles's most important source of information. By reading the advertisements he learnt about recently published literature and forthcoming book auctions, the catalogues of which were published in the journals. Charles continued subscribing to these when he had started running Leufstabruk in 1741. Other important sources of information for him were periodical publications such as the Journal des savants and Philosophical transactions, which are considered to be two of the first modern scholarly journals.

In Sweden, Charles bought some of his foreign literature from the German bookseller Gottfried Kiesewetter in Stockholm, who had a privilege to import books.

• Books bought from Gottfried Kiesewetter

From the Swedish scholar Olof Rudbeck the Younger Charles had the opportunity of acquiring the big hand-drawn and hand-coloured illustrated works Blomboken [The Flower Book] and Fogelboken [The Bird Book], as well as the two published volumes of Campus Elysii. Allegedly, Carl Linnaeus said about Fogelboken that "it appears not to be the work of a human hand".

At the auction following the death of Rudbeck the Younger, Charles bought books from his book collection, some of which had been previously owned by the father, Rudbeck the Elder. Among these books was Rudbeck the Younger's book of sketches Iter Lapponicum - A Journey to Lappland. On the same occasion De Geer also purchased Basilius Besler's Hortus Eystettensis printed in Nürnberg in 1613 in two volumes, one of which is coloured. He also bought four manuscripts written by the young Carl Linnaeus including Catalogus plantarum rariorum Scaniae dated 1728 and Adonis sive Hortus Uplandicus dated 1731. In the latter Linnaeus classifies plants in Uppsala's botanical gardens according to his new sexual system.

• Books bought at the auction following the death of Rudbeck the Younger 
• Books bought at the auction following the death of Rudbeck the Younger in digital copies 

In addition to entomology, general zoology and botany, there is also ichthyology, the scientific study of fishes, in Charles De Geer's book collection. One splendid example is Louis Renard's beautiful book with hand-coloured plates from 1754 about fishes and crustaceans in the sea surrounding the Islands of the Moluccas. 

When Charles the entomologist had passed away in 1778 his sons soon cancelled all the subscriptions of periodicals. During the time of Charles de De Geer the politician (1746–1805) at Leufstabruk the acquisitions of books to the library are fewer and of another kind. Entertainment and political literature becomes more common, forbidden books included.

The library also holds a large number of books that has belonged to Hedvig Ulrika De Geer (1752–1813), daughter of Charles the entomologist, and sister of Charles the politician. They arrived at Leufstabruk after her death.

• Books owned by Hedvig Ulrika De Geer

Uppsala University Library's acquisition of the approximately 10.000 titles was made possible by public grants and two large private donations. The book collection is listed in a catalogue compiled by E.G. Lilljebjörn. The printed books are catalogued in the national union catalogue Libris. Several copies in the collection have been fully digitised, and are available for free in Alvin.

• Printed works at the Leufsta Library in Libris 
• Digitised works at the Leufsta Library in Alvin 
• Printed works at Carolina Rediviva, in Libris

• Alsemgeest, Alex. "Dutch connections in Swedish collections". In: Jaarboek voor Nederlandse boekgeschiedenis, 23. - Nijmegen : Uitgeverij Vantilt & Leiden : Nederlandse boekhistorische Vereniging, 2016. P. 33-52.
• Alsemgeest, Alex. "The Library of Leufstabruk: an Eighteenth Century portal of cultural transfer between Sweden and the Dutch republic". In: Quærendo, 49. - Leiden : Brill, 2019. P. 332-367.
• Anfält, Tomas. "Baronen och 1700-talets informationssamhälle". In: Biblioteken, kulturen och den sociala intelligensen / editor: Lars Höglund. - Borås : Valfrid i samarbete med Forskningsrådsnämnden (FRN), 1995. - (Skrifter från Valfrid; 5). P. 330-339.
• Anfält, Tomas. "Buying books by mail order: a Swedish customer and Dutch booksellers in the eighteenth century". In: The bookshop of the world : the role of the Low Countries in the book-trade, 1473-1941. London, 1999. P. 263-276.
• Anfält, Tomas. "Charles De Geer och medicinen". In: Nordisk medicinhistorisk årsbok. - Stockholm : Medicinhistoriska museet,  1988. P. 75-84.
• Anfält, Tomas. "Från nytta till nöje : ett svenskt herrgårdsbibliotek". In: Solen och  Nordstjärnan: Frankrike och Sverige på 1700-talet. Nationalmusei utställningskatalog; 568. Published in cooperation with Bokförlaget Bra Böcker, Höganäs 1993. P. 252-261.
• Backman, Helena. "Blad mellan bladen: Om böckers materialitet och pressade växter i Leufstabiblioteket. In: Uppsala universitetsbibliotek 1621-2021. Uppsala, 2021. P. 253-259.
• Ehrensvärd, Ulla. "Leufsta bruks fideikommissbibliotek". In: Biblis : årsbok utgiven av Föreningen för bokhantverk, 1968. P. 123-170.
• Glimskär, Monika. "Historiska notskatter i Leufstasamlingen". In: Tidig musik, 2021:4. P. 16-18.
• Glimskär, Monika & Backman, Helena. "'Livres de Musique' in the Leufsta Library : Traces of Transnational Movement in Sheet Music and their Bindings". In: Jaarboek voor Nederlandse Boekgeschiedenis, 2021:1. P. 41-61.
• Hamberg, Erik. "Entomologisk litteratur hos Charles De Geer". In: Svenska Linnésällskapets årsskrift, 2015. P. 71-102.
• Hamberg, Erik. "Illustrationer och kopparplåtar till Charles De Geers Mémoires." In: Svenska Linnésällskapets årsskrift, 2016. P. 39-52.
• Lindberg, Sten G. "Filigran och rocaille : kring tre bokband på Leufsta bruk". In: Uppland : årsbok för medlemmarna i Upplands fornminnesförening och hembygdsförbund, 1981. P. 31-41.
• Ljungholm, Ann-Charlotte (ed.). Lövstabruk : ej sin like i hela riket. Lövstabruk, Stiftelsen Leufsta, 2011.
• Selling, Gösta. "De tre herrgårdarna på Leufsta". In: Uppland : årsbok för medlemmarna i Upplands fornminnesförening och hembygdsförbund, 1988. P. 41-78.
• Sjökvist, Peter. "Biblioteket vid Leufstabruk". In: Biblis 96 (Vintern 2021/22). P. 38–49.
• Sjökvist, Peter. "The Library of Leufstabruk". In: Mémoires du livre, vol. 13:1 (2022). P. 1–29.
• Tottie, Thomas. När Leufstabiblioteket räddades till Sverige. Leufsta Vänner, 2000.
• Tottie, Thomas. Ädle och höglärde H. Archiater : om Charles De Geer och hans brevväxling med Carl von Linné. Uppsala, 2007. 

• Leufstabiblioteket - en pärla från 1700-talet - producerad av J Wesströms Historiska Universum