Gripla - 20.12.2013, Blaðsíða 235

235
sILVIA HufnAGeL
tHe fARMeR, sCRIBe And LAy
HIstoRIAn GunnLAuGuR jónsson
fRoM skuGGABjÖRG
And HIs sCRIBAL netWoRk1
icelanD can boast a rich cultural heritage in the form of manuscripts
which date from as early as the twelfth century to as late as the twentieth.
All aspects of their history, material and content are of scholary interest,
including their scribes, as they can reveal relevant information about their
production, dissemination, reception and other parts of their cultural
background. one particularly prolific scribe from the nineteenth century
and his scribal network stand as the focus of this study: the farmer and lay
historian Gunnlaugur jónsson from skuggabjörg (1786–1866), with whom
more than 30 manuscripts from the Landsbókasafn íslands in Reykjavík
are connected.2 I intend to provide answers to the questions of where or
from whom he received books, manuscript exemplars or any other form
of information, with whom he was in contact and who else was part of
this network.3 this hitherto largely unnoticed farmer played an active
role in a larger scribal and scholarly network in Iceland, which consisted
of both officials and laymen. By analysing Gunnlaugur’s scribal network,
1 this study was made possible with a six-months’ scholarship in 2012 as part of the project
“Prentsmiðja fólksins – Handrita- og bókmenning síðari alda” (the People’s Press –
Manuscript Culture in the Age of Print), funded by Rannís and with Matthew james
driscoll as project leader. I thank him and davíð ólafsson for their invaluable help. I would
also like to express my gratitude towards the staff of Landsbókasafn íslands, Þjóðskjalasafn
íslands, Héraðsskjalasafn skagfirðinga, stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum
and den Arnamagnæanske samling for their help.
2 see Páll eggert ólason, ed., Skrá um handritasöfn, 3 vols. (Reykjavík: Landsbókasafn
íslands, 1918–37); and Handritasafn Landsbókasafns: 1. aukabindi (Reykjavík: Landsbóka-
safn, 1947).
3 In certain cases the texts in Gunnlaugur’s hand can shed light on this network, but an in-
depth discussion of his source criticism or the scholarly value of his studies is, although
interesting, not part of this article and must wait for a different project.
Gripla XXIV (2013): 235–268.