About me
I am a Rare Book Librarian at Hagströmer Medico-Historical Library. Contact me if you wish to conduct research on KI’s collections of older books and manuscripts, if you want to book a guided tour of the library, or use the premises in other ways.
Research description
As a scholar, I have specialized in Classical studies and the History of the book. I received my PhD in Classical Greek in 2009, and have since been involved in several research projects focused on older book collections – medieval and early modern manuscripts, as well as bookbindings and printed books from the hand-press era. At Uppsala University Library I was the leader of a digitization and cataloging project of Greek manuscripts in Swedish library collections (financed by The Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences). My area of expertise is codicology, i.e., the study of the codex/book as a physical object and text carrier.
In 2016–2019 I participated in a research- and infrastructural project concerning the medieval manuscripts in Old Swedish at the Royal Library, Stockholm, and Uppsala University Library. Currently, my focus is on our own library collections, notably the manuscripts and books with a connection to Carl Linneaus, his students and colleagues.
Karolinska Institutet holds unique collections of handwritten and printed texts documenting the history of the Institute, as well as the history of medicine in Sweden in general. These are now kept at Hagströmer Medico-Historical Library. As a book historian I am fascinated by not only the contents of the book but also the material object as such. The historical artefacts tell us yet another story, of their provenance, use, and significance for the readers. They may, for example, provide evidence of professional networks and personal relations. Handwritten comments and additions in a printed book can inform us about the actual practice of medicine and pharmacy at a certain time. The Hagströmer Library collections are well worth exploring from these and other perspectives.