Saga - 2006, Page 80

Abstract
S I G R Ú N P Á L S D Ó T T I R
N O RT H E R N A N T I Q U I T I E S
A N D I T S M Y S T E R I O U S E D I T O R , B L A C K W E L L
In 1847 a man named Blackwell published a revised edition of Northern
Antiquities. Translated by Thomas Percy, this influential work on older northern
literature and the history of Denmark was composed by the Swiss-born scholar
Paul Henri Mallet and was initially published in the mid-18th century.
Blackwell’s revision included comprehensive and detailed supplementary chap-
ters on Icelandic history and literature, yet he is hardly ever mentioned in writ-
ings on the reception of northern literature in the 19th century. This may be due
simply to scholars having been unable to identify him, which in turn can be
explained by how his initials are presented on the title page of Northern
Antiquities. An examination reveals that the editor was in fact Joseph Andrew
Blackwell, an English aristocrat, diplomat, and agent of the British government
in Hungary, but that he wrote an I rather than J as an initial.
Blackwell’s revised edition is however noteworthy not merely for its contri-
bution to British knowledge on Icelandic literature; in addition, his text offers
somewhat of a puzzle for intellectual history. While himself Catholic, Blackwell
took no clear side in the conflict between the North and South, the freedom-lov-
ing Scandinavia and arch-tyrant Rome. Moreover, as concerns the well-known
context of conflicting positivism and idealism, he seems to have embraced both
ideological strands simultaneously. Thus Blackwell might be described as strong-
ly advocating a scientific approach to history and society, but at the same time
seeming to view historical development and history as a framework for passing
judgement upon British politics, which inclines to an idealist perspective. An
analysis of his comments thus vividly reveals how misleading and inadequate
such labels can be, and how these models often tend to be rather an awareness of
the scholars analysing historical texts than of those who wrote them. Indeed, no
hints have been found of why Blackwell was interested in the subject of Icelandic
culture, and some of the information presented in this article suggests that he
undertook the task above all to make a living.
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