At the beginning of the last century the National Librarian Jón Jacobson (1860–1925) wrote a commemorative history of the National Library of Iceland, 1818–1918, a major work published in 1920.
Jón tells the history of the library year by year in the form of annals. First there is an introduction on the background to its founding, and then the history of the library itself, divided into three main parts: I. In the Cathedral loft (1825–1881); II. In the Parliament House (1881–1908) and III. In the National Library building (1908–1918). After this come short biographies of the three chief librarians: Jón Árnason, Hallgrímur Melsteð and Jón Jacobson. A good number of appendices and an index of names are also printed. The book has several large, fine pictures; at the front is a picture of Carl Christian Rafn, who can be considered the library’s father. Besides his picture there are pictures of the Culture House, inside and out, of the three chief librarians and of the old reading room in the Parliament House.
In his account Jón mentions the close ties between the history of the library and of society, as these words show (p. 216): “It is a joyful thought how closely the growth and fortunes of the National Library have always been bound up with the growing independence and improving condition of the Icelandic nation. When Alþingi had gained control of its finances and the Icelanders had received a constitution, the library entered its budget, though the allowance was meagre; when Alþingi got a roof over its head, the library came under the same roof; and when the government had at last become wholly Icelandic, a fine building was raised for it at the expense of the national treasury.”
Aldarsaga Landsbókasafns Íslands 1818-1918 is the Highlight of the month for December on landsbokasafn.is; on 1 December it will be 15 years since the National Library and the University Library were merged into the National and University Library of Iceland and moved to Þjóðarbókhlaða.
View the work as a PDF (60.3 MB, in Icelandic):
