Alf Åberg and autograph collectors - part 1
Topic: Archives

On 21 September 1962 the historian Alf Åberg (1916-2011) wrote in his column in the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet about a recent auction in Stockholm which had featured a large number of manuscripts and letters originating from government archives. Åberg pointed out that many of them appeared to have belonged to the archive of the Livonian Governor General and questioned how it was possible that such items could be traded freely. Even more absurd was, Åberg stated, that Riksarkivet had been unable to purchase them because of the high prices. Would it not be appropriate to introduce legislation similar to the one existing for historical artifacts made of precious metals, i.e. that the finder would be obliged to present such items to the authorities and be reimbursed according to a determined tariff?

In the article Åberg never mentioned the name of the seller, but he returned to the subject in another column two years later (26 May 1964). One of the items sold in 1962 had reappeared in an antiquarian book store in Stockholm and Riksarkivet had tried to purchase it. However (according to Åberg) the price was now much higher and the owner was not even prepared to allow Riksarkivet to copy the manuscript as he feared it would affect the price negatively. Instead it was rumored that the owner considered breaking up the volume in the belief that he could get even more money by selling the various autographs in it one by one. Åberg was even more upset than he had been in 1962. Surely the sitution called for a thorough investigation into possible remedies?

In the second article Åberg also named the previous owner, the person the item had belonged to before the sale in 1962. Not surprising it was Ernst Malmberg (1867-1960), who had sold similar items at auctions as early as in the 1910's. Malmberg dabbled in many things and was at the beginning of the 20th century friends with everybody of any relevance in Swedish cultural life. He was also, by all appearances, the first Swede to be granted access to the archive of the Livonian Governor General after the publication of Bienemann's catalogue in 1908. This, along with the fact that he owned a large collection of documents from the same archive, suggests that his visit to Riga in 1909 or 1910 may have included a bit more than just studying of documents...

But what happened to the item which reappeared in 1964? Well, as luck would have it the volume was purchased by a descendant of one of the most prominent Swedish officials in Riga during the GNW. Not long after it was acquired by Riksarkivet and now rests (probably largely unnoticed by researchers) in one of the volumes in the series Livonica. 

To be continued... 

Die Katastrophe der Stadt Dorpat
Topic: Archives

In 1902 Friedrich Bienemann published a study called Die Katastrophe der Stadt Dorpat. It starts when the capture of Dorpat (Tartu) by the Russians in 1704 and ends (for all intents and purposes) in the late summer of 1709, when the Russian forces started to gather for the final attack on the last Swedish bastions in Livonia and Estonia. Bienemann was in 1902 involved in the cataloguing of the "Swedish archive" and as familiar with its content as anybody. A few days ago I randomly checked a few of the references to incoming correspondence given by Bienemann and it so turned out that they were impossible to find. I could find other letters, relevant to the matter but not used by Bienemann, but it seemed impossible to find the ones he had used - until I got to LVVA, fond 7349, op. 2, vol. 243-247, some of the post-Bienemann supplemental volumes. There the letters were, arranged almost like Bienemann had just left them. One example: On page 175 Bienemann refers to the following incoming letters:

Lt. Col. von Vettern to Dep. Gov. von Funcken, dated Pernau 4 September 1708.

Colonel Nieroth to Major von Heine, Abbia 1 September 1708

Colonel Nieroth to von Funcken, dated Pühastekülla 27 October and 9 November.

Col. Nieroth to von Funcken, dated Pallokülla 14 November.

These are all in volume 244. Vettern to von Funcken starts on page 89, Nieroth to von Heine follows on page 91 and the three Nieroth letters to von Funcken can be found on pages 79-87. Very neat. 

Index status report
Topic: Archives

The present status in regard to the indexes to the volumes in the archive of the Livonian Governor General: 

The Tartu volumes 

EAA.278.1.XIX-68 (Letters from Governors and garrison commanders at Narva 1691-1699)
EAA.278.1.XIX-74 (Letters to Paul von Strokirch 1699-1702)
EAA.278.1.XX-18 (Letters concerning the war in Livonia 1700-1709)
EAA.278.1.XX-19 (Letters from Livonian clergymen 1700-1707)
EAA.278.1.XX-21b (Miscellaneous letters to Erik Dahlbergh 1700-1702)
EAA.278.1.XX-31 (Miscellaneous letters about the war in Courland 1701-1708)

The Riga volumes

LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 272 (Letters from various officers 1700-1703)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 273 (Letters from J. von Campenhausen & others 1700-1704)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 274 (Letters from Axel Julius & Adam Carl de la Gardie 1700-1708)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 275 (Letters from naval officers & others 1700-1709)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 276 (Letters from Henning Rudolf Horn 1700-1702)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 277 (Letters from Henning Rudolf Horn 1703-1704)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 278 (Letters from district bailiffs Krebs, Ringenheim, Falkenhagen and Bayer von Weissfeldt 1699-1700)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 279 (Letters from district bailiffs Krebs, Ringenheim, Falkenhagen and Bayer von Weissfeldt 1701-1702)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 280 (Letters from Wolter von Laurentzen 1700-1709)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 281 (Letters from Wolmar Anton von Schlippenbach 1701-1702)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 289 (Letters from Adam Heinrich von Steinau 1700)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 290 (Letters from the border 1699-1703)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 291 (Letters concerning the war in Livonia 1700-1703)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1. vol. 292 (Letters concerning the war in Livonia 1703-1708)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 293 (Miscellaneous letters 1695-1700)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 294 (Letters to Erik Dahlbergh 1700-1702)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 295 (Letters from Swedish diplomats and officers in Danzig and Elbing 1699-1708)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 296 (Miscellaneous letters from Swedish and foreign officials and diplomats 1694-1709)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 297 (Miscellaneous letters to Charles XII and to Mårten Trotzig 1700)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 298 (Letters from Gustaf Ernst Albedyhl 1700-1702)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 299 (Letters from Gustaf Ernst Albedyhl 1703-1704)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 300 (Letters from Gustaf Ernst Albedyhl 1707-1708)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1. vol. 301 (Letters from H. G. and H. J. von Buddenbrock 1701-1703)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 302 (Letters from Erik Dahlbergh 1696-1699)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 303 (Letters from Erik Dahlbergh 1700-1702)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 304 (Letters from Finland 1700-1709)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 305 (Miscellaneous letters 1701-1708)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 306 (Miscellaneous letters 1700-1708)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 309 (Letters from Libau 1701-1709)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 310 (Letters from F. W. and J. F. von Liphardt 1700-1705)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 311 (Letters from Abraham Cronhjort and Georg Lybecker 1701-1708)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 315 (Letters from Bauske, Mitau and Selburg 1701-1703)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 316 (Letters from various outposts near Riga 1701-1703)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 317 (Miscellaneous letters 1701-1709)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 318 (Letters from Johan & Erik Sjöblad 1701-1707)

In total about 4,700 letters and other documents. It's perhaps worth mentioning that Bienemann in his catalogue of the archive gave the number of incoming letters in series XX (The Great Northern War) as 8,351. Of the volumes listed above all but the first two belong to this series. Those two contain about 165 items. 

Johan Christoffer Bayer von Weissfeldt
Topic: Archives

In the autumn of 1700 the bailiff and cavalry captain Johan Bayer von Weissfeldt wrote a series of letters from Pernau to Governor General Dahlbergh in Riga about the arrival of the Swedish relief army. On 5 October Bayer reported that the artillery, the Drabants and the Life Guard had arrived and the king was expected very soon. A week later Bayer von Weissfeldt informed Dahlbergh that the King's arrival had calmed everyone. On the 26th Bayer sent more details: After having made a trip to Rujen the King had returned to Pernau, but at 8 am on the 24th he had left for Reval in the company of just Lt. General Rehnskiöld and two pages. The journey across the river had been difficult due to the onset of cold weather, Bayer told Dahlbergh. The bailiff had accompanied the King some distance and he was very impressed with the latter's friendliness during the stay in Pernau. Charles had invited Bayer into his room every day and had also come to his quarters. May God protect our extraordinarily gentle King, Bayer wrote to Dahlbergh. He could also report the arrival of Magnus Stenbock and "Dalregementet" and his efforts to find enough oxen, horses and wagons for the army. Count Piper, Bayer wrote, had left on the 25th and Thomas Polus and the artillery commander Johan Siöblad would leave tomorrow.

Source: LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 278.

The crossing of the Düna 1701
Topic: Archives

One of the chapters in volume 2 of Karl XII på slagfältet (1918) deals with the crossing of the Düna (Daugava) in July 1701. A surprising number of the footnotes refers to either Nordberg's Konung Carl den XII:tes historia (1740) or Adlerfelt's Histoire Militaire (1740). This indicates that major battles during the GNW have not necessarily left a big contemporary paper trail, i.e. that we would probably not have had a great deal more information about the Swedish planning for the battle of Poltava even if a lot of documents had not been burned before the army surrendered a couple of days later.

However, in the case of the Düna crossing there still exists quite a few items which to my knowledge have not been used before. On 5 July 1701 Captain Peter Andersson Preen, commander of the ship Wachtmeister, informs Erik Dahlbergh that he has received orders to collect as many boats he can find. Preen tells Dahlbergh that few are available as the Saxons are preventing all merchant ships from passing Dünamünde (LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 275). Quite a few items are in LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 316, which contains letters from Swedish commanders of detachments and redoubts in the neighbourhood of Riga. They report on Saxon movements and fortifications as well as about possible locations for a crossing. As the date of the crossing draws nearer there also appears reports of the gathering of boats (Jacob Johan Staël von Holstein, dated Wetsack 6 July) and finally the news of the success and the Saxon retreat (Staël von Holstein, dated Wetsack 9 July at 11 am).

Historical journey
Topic: Travels
Due to a two week journey through northern Poland (Gdansk, Malbork etc.), the Kaliningrad region, Lithuania (Kaunas, Vilnius etc.), Latvia (Riga) and Estonia (Tartu, Narva and Tallinn) I was forced to take a break from blogging. New posting to follow on Sunday.

Indexes again

The present status in regard to the indexes to the volumes in the archive of the Livonian Governor General: 

The Tartu volumes 

EAA.278.1.XIX-68 (Letters from Governors and garrison commanders at Narva 1691-1699)
EAA.278.1.XIX-74 (Letters to Paul von Strokirch 1699-1702)
EAA.278.1.XX-18 (Letters concerning the war in Livonia 1700-1709)
EAA.278.1.XX-19 (Letters from Livonian clergymen 1700-1707)
EAA.278.1.XX-21b (Miscellaneous letters to Erik Dahlbergh 1700-1702)
EAA.278.1.XX-31 (Miscellaneous letters about the war in Courland 1701-1708)

The Riga volumes

LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 272 (Letters from various officers 1700-1703)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 275 (Letters from naval officers & others 1700-1709
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 290 (Letters from the border 1699-1703)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 291 (Letters concerning the war in Livonia 1700-1703)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1. vol. 292 (Letters concerning the war in Livonia 1703-1708)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 293 (Miscellaneous letters 1695-1700)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 294 (Letters to Erik Dahlbergh 1700-1702)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 295 (Letters from Swedish diplomats and officers in Danzig and Elbing 1699-1708)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 296 (Miscellaneous letters from Swedish and foreign officials and diplomats 1694-1709)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 297 (Miscellaneous letters to Charles XII and to Mårten Trotzig 1700)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 298 (Letters from Gustaf Ernst Albedyhl 1700-1702)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 299 (Letters from Gustaf Ernst Albedyhl 1703-1704)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 300 (Letters from Gustaf Ernst Albedyhl 1707-1708)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1. vol. 301 (Letters from H. G. and H. J. von Buddenbrock 1701-1703)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 302 (Letters from Erik Dahlbergh 1696-1699)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 303 (Letters from Erik Dahlbergh 1700-1702)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 304 (Letters from Finland 1700-1709)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 305 (Miscellaneous letters 1701-1708)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 306 (Miscellaneous letters 1700-1708)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 309 (Letters from Libau 1701-1709)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 310 (Letters from F. W. and J. F. von Liphardt 1700-1705)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 311 (Letters from Abraham Cronhjort and Georg Lybecker 1701-1708)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 315 (Letters from Bauske, Mitau and Selburg 1701-1703)

This should be around 3,300 letters and documents.  

Wolmar Anton von Schlippenbach
Topic: Generals

The commander of the Swedish forces in Livonia has been much vilified by posterity and the opinion seems to have been shared by many contemporaries. On 3 December 1704 Samuel Bark wrote to his friend Olof Hermelin: "Why in God's name has Schlippenbach been placed in Reval... he is hated and mistrusted by everybody."

An intriguing piece of information concerning Schlippenbach's career can be found among his papers in Riksarkivet, Stockholm. In a letter dated  Libau 7 October 1701 Major General Carl Magnus Stuart, one of Charles XII's closest military advisors, writes that he is very pleased with Schlippenbach's success. Schlippenbach should, Stuart writes, remember who persuaded him to remain in the army. His Majesty, Stuart continues, well understands that I am not advocating you because of my personal interest but because of your merits.

Stuart also writes (which is perhaps even more interesting) that he understands Schlippenbach's unhappiness with how things have developed. No one has more than I wished that the major part of the army had marched to that border, but other things have put a stop to this and I am not at all happy about it, Stuart writes. This of course strongly suggests that Stuart was no supporter of the decision to intervene in the Lithuanian civil war, but would have preferred a campaign against Russia. The "other things" were, if I may hazard a guess, the contacts with the Sapieha family and their appeal for assistance.

 

Sources: 

Riksarkivet, M 1402

Bark, Samuel, Bref från Samuel Bark till Olof Hermelin 1702-1708. I. - Stockholm, 1914 

Indexes thus far
Topic: Archives

The archive of the Livonian Governor General 

At present I have covered the following Tartu volumes:

EAA.278.1.XIX-68 (Letters from Governors and garrison commanders at Narva 1691-1699)
EAA.278.1.XIX-74 (Letters to Paul von Strokirch 1699-1702)
EAA.278.1.XX-18 (Letters concerning the war in Livonia 1700-1709)
EAA.278.1.XX-19 (Letters from Livonian clergymen 1700-1707)
EAA.278.1.XX-21b (Miscellaneous letters to Erik Dahlbergh 1700-1702)
EAA.278.1.XX-31 (Miscellaneous letters about the war in Courland 1701-1708)

Of the Riga volumes:

LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 272 (Letters from various officers 1700-1703)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 275 (Letters from naval officers & others 1700-1709
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 290 (Letters from the border 1699-1703)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 291 (Letters concerning the war in Livonia 1700-1703)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1. vol. 292 (Letters concerning the war in Livonia 1703-1708)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 293 (Miscellaneous letters 1695-1700)
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 294 (Letters to Erik Dahlbergh 1700-1702)

All in all about 1,870 letters and other documents.  These volumes are, as I am sure I have mentioned earlier, not always what they appear to be from the old descriptions but they are all of the "miscellaneous kind". Letters from more prominent correspondents such as for example Henning Rudolf Horn in Narva, Carl Gustaf Skytte in Dorpat and Major General Schlippenbach are usually found in specific volumes. Letters from less well-known figures may turn up anywhere, despite the efforts by Bienemann & others to bring some sort of order to the collection. 

 

 

 

 

 

More indexes (again)
Topic: Archives
I have now finished LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 292 and ended up at roughly 200 documents. Next in line is vol. 293, which basically contains a lot of loose material from 1700 (a a few older ones). Most of them are of Livonian origin, but there are a few others. One is from the Duke of Holstein and dated Stockholm 12 March 1700. Duke Frederick informs Dahlbergh that the King has decided to send a few good officers to Riga, among them Col. Axel von Wangersheim. A month later Wangersheim writes from Pernau, informing Dahlbergh of his intention to try and get through to Riga despite the presence of Saxon patrols. This voulme also contains a few letters from Henrik Haij, the garrison commander at Kokenhusen.