Photo: Kristianstads kommun/Stefan Sjölund
My name is Jonas Nordin. I am a historian and professor of book and library history at Lund University. I was born in 1968 and live in Stockholm with my wife, two sons and daughter.
I have a PhD in History from Stockholm University, where I am also an associate professor. From 2007 to 2018, I worked at the National Library of Sweden (Kungliga biblioteket). My research focuses on the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, combining political and cultural history. Most of this website is in Swedish, but you will find information about some of my publications in other languages below.
Contact me at: jonas.nordin{a}kultur.lu.se
My web presentation at: Lund University.
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7220-9442
Follow me on Blyesky: @jonasnordin.bsky.social
In English
Books
- Monarchy in the Age of Liberty: Royal Power and Public Life in Eighteenth-Century Sweden (Lund: Lund University Press, 2026). 414 pp.
- Karl XI’s Carousel for his Contemporaries and for Posterity. [Facismile reprint with commentary of David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl’s festival book from 1686. Facsimile: 168 pp. Commentary: 256 pp. (English translation starts on p. 137.)] (Stockholm: Byggförlaget, 2005).
- The Baltic Battle of Books: Formation and Relocation of European Libraries in the Confessional Age (c. 1500–1650) and Their Afterlife. Edited book together with Gustavs Strenga & Peter Sjökvist (Leiden: Brill, 2023). 350 pp.
- Media and Mediation in the Eighteenth Century. Edited book together with Penelope J. Corfield (Lund: Swedish Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies & Division of Book History, Lund University, 2023). 224 pp.
Articles/Chapters
- ”How a Swedish king went on strike in 1768”, The Conversation UK, 18 June 2026.
- ”An indispensable means in a free state: The Swedish Freedom of the Press Act of 1766”, Opera Historica, 26 (2025), s. 49–75.
- The Swedish Freedom of the Press Ordinance of 1766: Background and Significance (Stockholm: National Library of Sweden, 2023). 34 pp.
- ”Clas Frietzcky’s Library at Säbylund”, in Marieke van Delft & Peter Sjökvist (eds), A Warm Scent of Books: Private Libraries at Leufstabruk and Beyond (Uppsala: Acta Universitsatis Upsaliensis, 2023), pp. 127–141.
- ”Renewed Swedish Censorship Laws, Stockholm (1684)”, Primary Sources on Copyright (1450–1900), eds Lionel Bently & Martin Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org (2023).
- ”The Swedish Freedom of the Press Ordinance, Stockholm (1766)”, Primary Sources on Copyright (1450–1900), eds Lionel Bently & Martin Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org (2023).
- Organizing history. Studies in honour of Jan Glete. Edited book together with Anna Maria Forssberg, Mats Hallenberg & Orsi Husz (Lund: Nordic Academic Press, 2011). 383 pp.
- ”Implementing Freedom of the Press in Eighteenth-Century Scandinavia: Perspectives on a Surprising Lack of Transnationalism”, together with Ulrik Langen & Frederik Stjernfelt, in Ruth Hemstad et al. (eds), Literary Citizenship in Scandinavia in the Long Eighteenth Century (Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, 2023), pp. 90–116.
- ”Northern Declarations of Freedom of the Press: The Relative Importance of Philosophical Ideas and of Local Politics”, together with John Christian Laursen, Journal of the History of Ideas, 81:2 (2020), pp. 217−237.
- ”Spirit of the Age: Erik Dahlbergh’s Images of Sweden’s Past”, in: Bernd Roling & Bernhard Schirg (eds), Boreas Rising: Antiquarianism and National Narratives in 17th- and 18th-century Scandinavia (Berlin & Boston: de Gruyter, 2019), pp. 103−128.
- ”From seemly subjects to enlightened citizens. Censorship and press freedom from the Middle Ages to the 18th century”, in: Press Freedom 250 Years. Freedom of the Press and Public Access to Official Documents in Sweden and Finland – a living heritage from 1766 (Stockholm: Sveriges riksdag, 2018) pp. 27–59.
- ”Peter Forsskål (1732–1763)”, in Peter Forsskål, Thoughts on Civil Liberty, editor Gunilla Jonsson, preface by David Goldberg and comments by Jonas Nordin and Thomas von Vegesack (Litteraturbanken 2017) pp. 4–8.
- ”The monarchy in the Swedish Age of Liberty (1719–1772)”, in: Michael Bregnsbo et al. (eds), Scandinavia in the Age of Revolutions. Nordic political cultures, 1740–1820 (Farnham: Ashgate, 2011) pp. 29–40.
- ”An ambiguous relationship – Sweden and Finland before 1809”, in: Tuukka Talvio & Cecilia von Heijne (eds), Monetary Boundaries in Transition. A North European economic history and the Finnish War 1808–1809. The Museum of National Antiquities, Stockholm, studies 16 (Stockholm: Kungl. Myntkabinettet et al., 2010) pp. 21–35.
- ”Scholarly networks in the age of Linnaeus”, in: Linneaus’ network. The National Library of Sweden’s exhibition catalogue 152 (Stockholm 2007) pp. 7–11.
- ”Conquering without Bloodshed. Swedish Rule in Livonia and Scania”, in: Ilgvars Misans & Horst Wernicke (Hrsg.), Riga und der Ostseeraum. Von der Gründung 1201 bis in die Frühe Neuzeit. Tagungen zur Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung herausgegeben vom Herder-Institut 22 (Marburg: Verlag Herder-Institut, 2005) pp. 358–366.
- ”Sweden 1766: The World’s First Legislation Protecting the Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Information”, in: Lothar Jordan & Fackson Banda (eds), Press Freedom and Documentary Heritage, SCEaR Newsletter 2023, pp. 25–30.
- ”Whistleblower Peter Forsskål. A Linneaus Apostle in struggle for civil rights”, IK Foundation, iReport, January 2014, http://www.ikfoundation.org/ilinnaeus/ireports/whistleblower.php, 3/2 2014.
In French
- ”L’esprit de paix ou la naissance d’une opposition contre la guerre en Suède au XVIIIe siècle”, Revue d’histoire nordique, 14 (2012) pp. 97–130.
- ”En 1768, comment un roi paralysa l’État en se mettant en grève”, The Conversation, 19 June 2026.
In German
”Von ‚fremder Unterdrückung’ zur ‚ Freiheitszeit’. Die Vorstellung von frihet im frühneuzeitlichen Schweden”, in: Georg Schmidt/Martin van Gelderen, Christopher Snigula (Hrsg.), Kollektive Freiheitsvorstellungen im frühneuzeitlichen Europa (1400–1850). Jenaer Beiträge zur Geschichte 8 (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2006), pp. 145–158.
In Russian
”Политические реформы и риторика в Швеции XVIII в.” [Political Reforms and Rhetoric in Sweden in the Eighteenth Century], in: М. М. Кром & Л. А. Пименова (eds), Феномен реформ на западе и востоке Европы в начале Нового времени (xvi–xviii вв.): сборник статей [The Phenomenon of Reform in Western and Eastern Europe in Early-Modern Times (16th–18th Centuries): an anthology] (Saint Petersburg: European University, 2013) pp. 195–213.
In Finnish
- ”Kasvatettavista alamaisista valistuneiksi kansalaisiksi. Sensuuri ja painovapaus keskiajalta 1700-luvulle”, in: Sananvapaus 250 vuotta. Painovapaus ja julkisuus Ruotsissa ja Suomessa – elävä perintö vuodelta 1766 (Stockholm: Sveriges Riksdag, 2018), s. 25–57.
- ”Suomi ruotsin valtakunnassa”, in: Rainer Knapas & Nils Erik Forsgård (toim.), Suomen kulttuurihistoria, 2. Tunne ja tieto (Helsingfors: Tammi, 2002), s. 44–47