Árbók Landsbókasafns Íslands - Nýr flokkur - 01.01.1985, Page 86

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ENGLISH SUMMARY
Halldórsson dean at Hítardalur, it contains, inter alia, Hirðstjóraannáll by the same
author.
Þorsteinn Halldórsson (1739-1818) was born and lived all his life in the
Rangárvallasýsla county in the south of Iceland. Being a farmer and bailiff
(hreppstjóri), he is, however, best known for his untiring industry as a scribe: the
scholarly interest and artistic inclinations he inherited from his forefathers found
expression in the manuscripts he is so well known for. Many of them are preserved in
the National Library. They contain works on many different subjects and are known
to have passed from hand to hand. A few of them are dealt with in some detail in the
article. His best known manuscripts are probably those containing legal texts and
genealogies.
Eysteinn Sigurðsson: Bólu-Hjálmar þýðir úr dönsku. Landsbókasafn íslands. Árbók.
Nýr Jlokkur 9 (1983). Rv. 1985, pp. 60-71.
Hjálmar Jónsson (1796-1875), poet and farmer at Bóla in Skagaíjörður in the
north of Iceland, is known to have translated only one work, a hymn by the Danish
clergyman Jesper Rasmussen Rachlöv (d. about 1691). A close comparison of the
translation with the original reveals that Hjálmar adheres fairly closely to the
original to begin with but at the same time it is always evident that a poet rather
than a philologue is translating. Towards the end, however, he adds a glorification of
Jesus Christ, changing completely the message of the original, replacing the sad
admonishions of constant closeness of death by the evangelical teachings of pietism.
Landsbókasafnið 1983 [a report]. Landsbókasafn íslands. Árbók. Njrflokkur 9 (1983).
Rv. 1985, pp. 72-84.
Accessions. At the end of the year, the number of printed books in the National
Library was, according to the accessions catalogue, 373,658 volumes, the annual
increase being 6,656 volumes. Accessions to the National Department were 4,839
items.
A great number of books were given to the library or acquired through exchanges
(cf. a list on pp. 74—76). A collection of press-cuttings from Danish newspapers 1905-
1950, consisting of material about Iceland and Icelanders, was given by the Althing
Library. On the death of Mr. Kristmann Guðmundsson, the author, on November
20, 1983, his daughters gave the National Library the part of his library containing
copies of his own works, both original editions and translations, works he translated
and articles dealing with his works that have appeared in Icelandic newspapers,
journals and magazines and abroad. Various items relating to the life and work of
Mr. Pétur Jónsson, the opera singer, were presented by his widow. A v'aluable
collection of Greenlandic books was given by the National Library of Greenland in
Nuuk, a total of 182 volumes.
Department of Manuscripts. The total number of catalogued manuscripts reached at the
end of the year 13,551. Numerous manuscripts were presented to the National
Library during the year (cf. pp. 76-79).
Round-table conference on manuscripts. The first round-table conference on manu-
scripts held by the Union of Nordic Research I.ibrarians and supported by
NORDINFO was held in Reykjavík during the year with 20 participants from