Árbók Landsbókasafns Íslands - Nýr flokkur - 01.01.1979, Page 97

ENGLISH SUMMARY
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Bjarni Vilhjálmsson: Þakkarræða. Landsbókasafn íslands. Árbók. Nýrflokkur 4(1978). Rv. 1979,
pp. 21-22.
(Words of thanks by Mr Bjarni Vilhjálmsson, Director of the National Archives). It is both an
honour and pleasure to receive this present, which is given in the spirít of D. Willard Fiske. It is
most suitable that this present has been given on the occasion of the 1 OOth anniversary of Halldór
Hermannsson’s birth, but he can be said to have been a cultural representative of Iceland in the
United States, and his work and that of his successors sets a good example ofhow nations should
cultívate their friendships. We thank Mr Vilhjálmur Bjarnarand theCornell University Library,
and hope that the Fiske Icelandic Collection may continue to flourish.
Vilhjálmur Bjarnar: Fiske-safnið í íþöku. Landsbókasafn íslands. Árbók. Nýrflokkur 4(1978). Rv.
1979, pp. 23-25.
The history ofthe Fiske Icelandic Collection, which is part ofCornell University Library, can
be traced back to the middle of the 19th century. It was founded by Daniel Willard Fiske, who
taught North European languages at Cornell and was the first University Librarian (1868-1883).
At his death in 1904, he bequeathed the Icelandic Collection to Cornell University together with
funds for paying the salary ofa keeper, financing new acquisitions and publishing a series devoted
to Iceland and the Icelandic Collection.
The first keeper was Halldór Hermannsson, who held the post for more than forty years. He
taught as well at Cornell and is well known for his valuable contributions to Icelandic studies and
Icelandic bibliography in particular.
The Fiske Icelandic Collection is now the largest collection of Icelandic books in the Western
Hemisphere. The use of the Collection has increased in recent years, and other American libraries
have access to it through inter-lending. It has been supported financially by private as well as
public funds. Recently, the National Endowment for the Humanities made it possible to re-clas-
sify and re-catalogue the whole Collection, thus making it readily accessible, by means of a
computer, to users throughout the United States.
Lúðvík Kristjánsson: Dagbækur Finnboga Bernódussonar. Landsbókasafn íslands. Árbók. Nýr
flokkur 4(1978). Rv. 1979, pp.26-32.
Last winter the National Library received a valuable present consisting of a diary written by
Mr Finnbogi Bernódusson of Bolungarvík, northwest Iceland. Born in 1892, Finnbogi has lived
at Bolungarvík since 1896. As a young man he hoped to become a carpenter, but those hopes were
crushed when his father died suddenly and Finnbogi became responsible for supporting his
mother and a grandmother. For almost 40 years of his life he earned his Iiving as a fisherman
having a large family to provide for. But in spite of the hard work, he managed to find time to
cultivate other interests. An important achievement is the diary, which he has kept regularly
since March 8, 1914. It is a huge work in 58 volumes, 20 of which are in folio.
The diary is remarkable for several things. It is full of information ofvalue to the historian of
fishing and the fishing industry in Iceland. It contains meticulous weather descriptions and
words and idioms from the speech of fishermen in the northwest. But above all the diary is an
important account of the Iife of a hard-working man in a small Icelandic fishing community
during the first half of this century.
Jón Steffensen: Ritunartími Eldrits Sveins Pálssonar kirurgs. Landsbókasafn íslands. Árbók. Nýr
flokkur 4(1978). Rv. 1979, pp.33^8.
Sveinn Pálsson (1762-1840) was a naturalist and a physician, and in 1799 he was
appointed County Physician in the South of Iceland. In 1791 he was awarded a three-year grant
by the Natural History Society (Naturhistorie Selskabet) in Copenhagen for the purpose of
travelling about Iceland and making reports to theSociety about his observations. This he did by
making his journals available to the Society.