History of the manuscript collection

The beginning of the manuscript collection of the National Library of Iceland can be traced back to the purchase of the manuscript collection of Bishop Steingrímur Jónsson and Valgerður Jónsdóttir to the National Library in 1846. Their collection included manuscripts from their great-grandfathers, Bishop Hannes Finnsson, Bishop Finnir Jónsson and Reverend Jón Halldórsson in Hítardalur. The National Library's manuscript collection (collection number: LBS) grew year by year. In 1879, the manuscript collection of Jón Sigurðsson was purchased, which contains 1,342 manuscript numbers (JS). In 1901, the collection purchased the manuscript collection of the Icelandic Literary Society, Copenhagen Department (ÍB) and Reykjavík Department (ÍBR), which contained 1,800 manuscript numbers. The collection acquired more manuscript collections in the 20th century and manuscripts are still being received, especially private collections.