Svea Folk-Kalender

Svea Folk-Kalender (also known simply as Svea or Svea Volkskalender) was a Swedish yearbook published in Stockholm by Albert Bonniers Verlag between 1844 and 1907. Its first issue carried the year number 1845, and it was modelled on German popular calendars such as the Deutscher Volkskalender of Friedrich Wilhelm Gubitz and the Sächsischer Volkskalender of Karl Gustav Nieritz. It became the largest and most popular yearbook published in Sweden during the 19th century. Issues appeared annually around Christmas. Like most popular calendars of the period, Svea mixed literary debuts, poetry, travel writing, essays, and articles on cultural, historical, technical, and artistic subjects. Many prominent Swedish writers contributed to it, including August Strindberg (seven contributions in 1881, 1884, 1887, 1889, 1896, 1903, and 1905), Selma Lagerlöf, Victor Rydberg, Frans Hedberg, Bernhard Elis Malmström, Talis Qualis, Magnus Jacob Crusenstolpe, and Oscar Levertin. After 1900 the calendar faced increasingly strong competition. New publications were more impressive from an illustrative standpoint, had a larger format, and used new reproduction methods. With the appearance of the 64th issue (year 1908), production of Svea ceased, despite attempts to preserve its original character as a cheap popular calendar by reducing its scope and price. Its greatest competitor was the calendar Nornan. The brand is now defunct as a publishing product, but it remains a notable example of 19th-century Swedish popular publishing and literary culture.

Svea Folk-Kalender was published by Albert Bonniers Verlag in Stockholm from 1844 to 1907. The first issue carried the year number 1845. It was similar to German popular calendars such as the Deutscher Volkskalender by Friedrich Wilhelm Gubitz or the Sächsischer Volkskalender by Karl Gustav Nieritz, and it became the largest and most popular yearbook published in Sweden in the 19th century. Issues appeared every year around Christmas. Like most popular calendars of the time, it published a mixture of literary debuts, poetry, travel reports, essays, and cultural, historical, technical, and artistic articles. Many well-known Swedish writers published in Svea, including August Strindberg (seven contributions in 1881, 1884, 1887, 1889, 1896, 1903, and 1905), Selma Lagerlöf, Victor Rydberg, Frans Hedberg, Bernhard Elis Malmström, Talis Qualis, Magnus Jacob Crusenstolpe, and Oscar Levertin. After 1900 the calendar had to struggle against increasingly strong competition. The new publications were more impressive from an illustrative standpoint, had a larger format, and used new reproduction methods. With the appearance of the 64th issue (year 1908), production of Svea had to be discontinued, despite attempts to preserve the original character of the cheap popular calendar by reducing its scope and price. The greatest competitor of Svea was the calendar Nornan.

• 1907

  Publication of Svea ceases with the 64th issue (year 1908).

• 1881

  August Strindberg begins contributing to Svea; he would publish seven contributions through 1905.

• 1844

  First issue of Svea published by Albert Bonniers Verlag, carrying the year number 1845.

A cheap, popular yearbook mixing literature and general knowledge, aimed at a broad Swedish readership.

• Svea Folk-Kalender annual issues

  Annual yearbook published around Christmas, mixing literary debuts, poetry, travel reports, essays, and cultural, historical, technical, and artistic articles.

1. 1Wikidata: Svea Folk-Kalenderwikidata.org
2. 2Wikipedia (German): Svea (Jahrbuch)de.wikipedia.org
3. 3Svea tidningsarkiv (SCR)scr.se