Hjalmar Pettersen
Encyclopedia
Hjalmar Marius Pettersen (13 January 1856 – 18 January 1928) was a Norwegian
librarian and bibliographer. He is best known for having edited the Bibliotheca Norvegica
, a bibliography of Norwegian literature. He also edited many other bibliographies on Norwegian literature, and was decorated as a Commander of the Order of St. Olav in 1926.
(1826–92) and Iverine Grorud (1828–1905), he grew up in Storgaten, Oslo
. His father had founded a retailing company there, still visible as Gunerius Shoppingsenter
, and Hjalmar's four brothers Gunerius
, Harald
, Axel
and Carl were active as company owners. In April 1895 Hjalmar Pettersen married the merchant's daughter Hildur Børs (1864–1947), and their son Christian Børs Pettersen took over the family company after Hjalmar's four brothers. Hjalmar Pettersen died in January 1928 at Bygdøy
.
, Norwegian
, French
, English
and German
. According to librarian Wilhelm Munthe
, a 1875 visit to Paris
paved the way for Pettersen's "faithful love" of France. After graduating with a cand.philol. degree in 1882, Pettersen was employed as a lecturer at the University Library of Oslo
. He helped the fellow librarian Jens Braage Halvorsen
, who according to Munthe lacked "systemathical librarian education".
In 1890, Pettersen published the work Anonymer og pseudonymer i den norske litteratur ("Anonymouses and Pseudonyms in Norwegian Literature"). His next work was the 1897 Udlændingers reiser i Norge
("Travels in Norway"), which was a part of the University Library's yearbook series on foreigners in Norway. After a government grant to Halvorsen in 1898—who wanted to finish his work Norsk forfatterleksikon 1814–1880 ("Norwegian Writers' Encyclopedia 1814–1880"), Pettersen succeeded him as chief librarian of the national department at the University Library. In the same year, he started working with Bibliotheca Norvegica
, an annotated bibliography of Norwegian literature. It featured 3,300 pages on a total of four volumes, which were published between 1899 and 1924. He registered every collected work in the bibliography himself, and often travelled to libraries and archives in foreign countries to find books and sources.
Pettersen retired in 1926. Before his retirement, he had started working on the fifth volume of Bibliotheca Norvegica, which was intended as an addition to the second and fourth volume in the series. He had also started working on a bibliography titled Henrik Ibsen bedømt av samtid og eftertid ("Henrik Ibsen Assessed by Contemporary and Retrospective Society"). It featured collected works and quotations on the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen
, and was published on Ibsen's centennial anniversary on 20 March 1928. Pettersen died on 18 January 1928 at Bygdøy
in Oslo, at an age of 72 years.
. He was decorated as a Knight of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1909, and upgraded to a Commander in 1926. Since 1921, he was a Officier de l'instruction publique. On his 70th birthday, friends and colleagues bestowed him a government-funded Festschrift
.
His biographer in Norsk biografisk leksikon
, Odd Heide Hald, described him as a man with a "bitter tongue", but also a man who was friendly and extroverted in social life. Librarian Wilhelm Munthe
called him a "cosmopolitan" and "literary nationalist", who was fond of travelling.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
librarian and bibliographer. He is best known for having edited the Bibliotheca Norvegica
Bibliotheca Norvegica
Bibliotheca Norvegica is a four-volume bibliography of Norwegian literature edited by Hjalmar Pettersen. The four volumes were published between 1899 and 1924, and comprise together more than 3,300 pages. The first volume is titled Norsk boglexikon 1643–1813 and features a register of Norwegian...
, a bibliography of Norwegian literature. He also edited many other bibliographies on Norwegian literature, and was decorated as a Commander of the Order of St. Olav in 1926.
Personal life
The eldest son of merchant Gunerius PettersenGunerius Pettersen (1826–1892)
Gunerius Pettersen was a Norwegian businessperson. He founded the company Gunerius Pettersen, today named Gunerius Shoppingsenter....
(1826–92) and Iverine Grorud (1828–1905), he grew up in Storgaten, Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
. His father had founded a retailing company there, still visible as Gunerius Shoppingsenter
Gunerius Shoppingsenter
Gunerius Shoppingsenter is one of the largest shopping centres in central Oslo, Norway, with c. 18,000 visitors a day – 5,5 million a year. The first shopping centre on this location was opened in 1852 by Gunerius Pettersen. In 1992 it was significantly expanded, and it is now 9,500 m²...
, and Hjalmar's four brothers Gunerius
Gunerius Pettersen (1857–1940)
Gunerius Pettersen was a Norwegian businessperson.He was a son of merchant Gunerius Pettersen and his wife Iverine, née Grorud . One of his brothers, Hjalmar Pettersen, was a noted a librarian and bibliographer...
, Harald
Harald Pettersen
Harald Nicolai Pettersen was a Norwegian businessperson and politician.He was born in Christiania as a son of merchant Gunerius Pettersen and his wife Iverine, née Grorud . One of his brothers, Hjalmar Pettersen, was a noted a librarian and bibliographer...
, Axel
Axel Pettersen
Axel Pettersen was a Norwegian businessperson and politician.He was a son of merchant Gunerius Pettersen and his wife Iverine, née Grorud . One of his brothers, Hjalmar Pettersen, was a noted a librarian and bibliographer...
and Carl were active as company owners. In April 1895 Hjalmar Pettersen married the merchant's daughter Hildur Børs (1864–1947), and their son Christian Børs Pettersen took over the family company after Hjalmar's four brothers. Hjalmar Pettersen died in January 1928 at Bygdøy
Bygdøy
Bygdøy or Bygdø is a peninsula on the western side of Oslo, Norway. Administratively, Bygdøy belongs to the borough of Frogner.Bygdøy has several museums, like the Kon-Tiki Museum, which shows all year long the legendary expeditions of Thor Heyerdahl; the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History ; the...
.
Career
Hjalmar Pettersen enrolled as a student in 1874 and studied philologyPhilology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
, Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. According to librarian Wilhelm Munthe
Wilhelm Munthe
Abraham Wilhelm Støren Munthe was a Norwegian librarian. He worked at the University Library of Oslo from 1903 to 1953.-Personal life:...
, a 1875 visit to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
paved the way for Pettersen's "faithful love" of France. After graduating with a cand.philol. degree in 1882, Pettersen was employed as a lecturer at the University Library of Oslo
University Library of Oslo
The University Library of Oslo is a library connected to the University of Oslo.Like the University, it was established in 1811 with Georg Sverdrup as the first head librarian. It originally doubled as the Norwegian national library, and was located at the old University of Oslo campus.In 1913 the...
. He helped the fellow librarian Jens Braage Halvorsen
Jens Braage Halvorsen
Jens Braage Halvorsen was a Norwegian librarian, magazine editor and literary historian.He edited the magazine Ny Illustreret Tidende from 1880 to 1883. He is particularly known for his principal work, the encyclopedia of Norwegian writers, Norsk forfatterlexikon, which was issued from 1881 until...
, who according to Munthe lacked "systemathical librarian education".
In 1890, Pettersen published the work Anonymer og pseudonymer i den norske litteratur ("Anonymouses and Pseudonyms in Norwegian Literature"). His next work was the 1897 Udlændingers reiser i Norge
Travels in Norway
Travels in Norway: A bibliographical essay was a 1897 bilingual annotated bibliography by Hjalmar Pettersen. It featured short individual entries for foreigners' travels in Norway with eventual travel reports listed. It was part of the yearbook series of the University Library of Oslo, with many...
("Travels in Norway"), which was a part of the University Library's yearbook series on foreigners in Norway. After a government grant to Halvorsen in 1898—who wanted to finish his work Norsk forfatterleksikon 1814–1880 ("Norwegian Writers' Encyclopedia 1814–1880"), Pettersen succeeded him as chief librarian of the national department at the University Library. In the same year, he started working with Bibliotheca Norvegica
Bibliotheca Norvegica
Bibliotheca Norvegica is a four-volume bibliography of Norwegian literature edited by Hjalmar Pettersen. The four volumes were published between 1899 and 1924, and comprise together more than 3,300 pages. The first volume is titled Norsk boglexikon 1643–1813 and features a register of Norwegian...
, an annotated bibliography of Norwegian literature. It featured 3,300 pages on a total of four volumes, which were published between 1899 and 1924. He registered every collected work in the bibliography himself, and often travelled to libraries and archives in foreign countries to find books and sources.
Pettersen retired in 1926. Before his retirement, he had started working on the fifth volume of Bibliotheca Norvegica, which was intended as an addition to the second and fourth volume in the series. He had also started working on a bibliography titled Henrik Ibsen bedømt av samtid og eftertid ("Henrik Ibsen Assessed by Contemporary and Retrospective Society"). It featured collected works and quotations on the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
, and was published on Ibsen's centennial anniversary on 20 March 1928. Pettersen died on 18 January 1928 at Bygdøy
Bygdøy
Bygdøy or Bygdø is a peninsula on the western side of Oslo, Norway. Administratively, Bygdøy belongs to the borough of Frogner.Bygdøy has several museums, like the Kon-Tiki Museum, which shows all year long the legendary expeditions of Thor Heyerdahl; the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History ; the...
in Oslo, at an age of 72 years.
Honours and assessment
In 1903, Pettersen was appointed member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and LettersNorwegian Academy of Science and Letters
The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway.-History:The University of Oslo was established in 1811. The idea of a learned society in Christiania surfaced for the first time in 1841. The city of Throndhjem had no university, but had a learned...
. He was decorated as a Knight of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1909, and upgraded to a Commander in 1926. Since 1921, he was a Officier de l'instruction publique. On his 70th birthday, friends and colleagues bestowed him a government-funded Festschrift
Festschrift
In academia, a Festschrift , is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during his or her lifetime. The term, borrowed from German, could be translated as celebration publication or celebratory writing...
.
His biographer in Norsk biografisk leksikon
Norsk biografisk leksikon
Norsk biografisk leksikon is the largest Norwegian biographical encyclopedia.The first edition was issued between 1921 and 1983, including 19 volumes and 5,100 articles...
, Odd Heide Hald, described him as a man with a "bitter tongue", but also a man who was friendly and extroverted in social life. Librarian Wilhelm Munthe
Wilhelm Munthe
Abraham Wilhelm Støren Munthe was a Norwegian librarian. He worked at the University Library of Oslo from 1903 to 1953.-Personal life:...
called him a "cosmopolitan" and "literary nationalist", who was fond of travelling.