The document provides background on Emanuel Swedenborg and the manuscripts he wrote. It discusses how phototyped reproductions of the manuscripts were distributed to libraries in England and the U.S. in the 1920s. The manuscripts are significant not just for those interested in Swedenborg's religious teachings, but for understanding his intellectual processes and anticipations of later scientific discoveries. Access to the original manuscripts would be valuable for future scholars seeking to define Swedenborg's place among history's thinkers. The document also provides context on Swedenborg's times in 18th century Sweden, when new ideas in science and philosophy were spreading, in order to frame his universal scholarship.
4. The Story of
THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
S. C. EllY
THE NEW-CHURCH PRESS
NEW YORK
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6. PREFATORY
If 1 were to acknowledge specifically aU the sources of
help in the writing of "The Story of the Swedenborg Manu
scripts," 1 should have to list the names of virtually aU who
have at any time written about those documents and their
reproduction.
1 cannot, nevertheless, let these pages go to press without
acknowledging my particular indebtedness to the compila
tions of Miss Greta EkelOf, assistant librarian of the
---_._-,~- ..........--
Library of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, in Stock
holm; to the R!v. Alfred Acton, of Bryn Athyn, whose
ability as a student of Swedenborg and proficient ac
quaintance with the manuscripts are well known, for very
generously perusing two separate drafts of my Story and
adding in important respects to its accuracy; and to the
l!.ev.. ~_ Whitehead, of Arlington, Mass., who supplied
many interesting data both in his published articles on the
subject and in letters to those concerned in the preservation
of the Swedenborg Manuscripts.
S. C. E.
New York, May l, 1926.
8. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PORTRAIT OF SWEDENBORG • . • . • . . • • • • • . • . • • Frontispicee
CATHEDRAL OF UPSALA . . • • . • • . • • • • . • • Opposite Page 5
UNIVERSITY OF U PSALA. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • " "Il
ROYAL SWEDISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. • " "Il
SWEDENBORG'S HOUSE................ " "23
HOUSE OF NOBLES. • • • • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • " "23
MINING EXCHANGE.................. " "35
SWEDENBORG MEDAL......... . • • • • • • • " "35
JAMES JOHN GARTH WILKINSON. • • • • • • • " "43
J. F. lM MANUEL T AFEL. • . • • • • • • • • • • • " "43
RUDOLF L. TAFEL... • • • • • • • • • • . . • . . • • " "43
ALFRED H. STROH. . • . . . • . • • • • • . • • • • • " "43
GUSTAV RETZIUS . . • . • • • • • • . . • • • . • • . • " "43
VOLUME XI OF PHOTOTYPED MANU
SCRIPTS " " 55
COAT OF ARMS ••••••••••••••••••••••
" " 63
v
12. THE STORY OF
THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
N THE latter part of the ye~r 1922 authorized
I agents in America received a consignment of
handsomely bound sheepskin tomes, consisting of
phototyped reproductions of manuscripts written by
E.r.nanuel_ê~e~enborg. The originals had Iain forone
hundred and fifty years on the shelves of the Library
of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stock-
holm, a society of which Swedenborg was a member
and to which bis heirs intrusted bis manuscript
remams.
1n.tended ru Gifu to
Reference Librariu.
In the earlier part of the same year identical sets of
these phototypes had been distributed at a notable
gathering at the Suffolk Galleries in London, under the
auspices of th~.J~oyal S.2ci~~y_of Literature and the
Î Sw_eden~o!"g S~~iety of LoIldQn, neither of w~i.
1 tutions is of a sectarian or denominational character.
Lord Chamwood presided and made the presentation
in the name of the societies. Th_~ British Museum; the
1
13. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
Bodleian Library, the Rylands Collection, and other
lïbraries were-repre~en:-t~d and fOflUlllly- accepted the
memorable gift. In the announcement of the donors
it is declared that "no retum is sought for the outlay
involved, except the assurance that wherever the books
are accepted they ;nI b-;- avail~t~ students-at an
_. _ • _ _ __ _ . w •. _ _
reasonable times for purposes of literary research."
The production of this series of phototypes was the
fruit of the devoted labors of various enthusiastic
students of Swedenborg; but it is only fair to say that
the f_l!nds, sOIIl~ fi~!y._t!!.<?.~~anLg_911a!s, making tl!~
work possible were supplied by the subscriptions of a
relatively smaH group in England and America of men
, and womenof moderate means who feIt an intellectual
) respo~sibili~y to perpetuate in their original intactness
1 the evidences of the literary method and working men-
tal processes of this "mastodon of literature," who
has been caHed with reason a modern Aristotle.
It is proposed to follow the example of the Royal
Society of Literature and the Swedenborg Society in
England, and to donate the several sets of the Amer-
ican quota to various leading libraries in our own
country. Remembering that the original manuscripts
are among the chief treasures in one of the great
libraries of the world, the Library of the Royal
Swedish Academy of Scie~ in StôêkÎ1olm, where
they are guard~d with-pâr1lcüiar care, while every con-
venience is afforded to those desiring to consult or
2
14. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
study them, it will be recognized that the work of the
present distributers is strictly in the line of-libr~ry
extension,-an effort to multiply the resources of one
library for the benefit of a judiciously chosen number
of other libraries.
Why the Manu.scripts
Should Be in the Chief
Reference Librarie&.
It goes without saying that these manuscripts will
be held in high esteem by those scholars who are inter
ested in the subject matter of Swedenborg's books, and
this alone might be a sufficient reason for their accept
ance by the libraries. As matter of fact, however, the
) sjgn!fi~~n~~_ ~f ~~ed~?borgis ~~r. wider an<L-~~e
) enduring than any denominational or partisan bias of
successive generations of devotees or do~trinaires;
" - -- . .'
"' - .... _---_...
~'_._~
His permanent place among the world 's immortals,
while undoubtedly assured, is by no means well or
distinctly defined. Professor William James asserted:
"In Swedenborg, as in other writers, much must count
for slag, and the question, 'What is the!:~!!.lli.~~den
borg7' will naturally be solved by different students
in different ways." Every resear~h worke!-.~s
the value of an author's unpublished writings as aids
to the mastery of s'uch works as he has presented to
the world. Many angles of interest in Swedenborg
have their significance in the peculiar aim and char
s
15. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
acter of his genius. For example, Ralph Waldo
Emerson declared: "1 have sometimes thought that
he would render the greatest service to modern crit
icism who shall draw the line of relation that subsists
between Shakspeare and Swedenborg." This is but
one of countless studies in criticism where free access
, to·the penetr!l:lia_~ o~iginal and aut~ori!~tive ~o~ices
would be a priceless privilege. vVhat would it not
mean if the scholar of today could consult veracious
1 transcripts of the writings of Plato or Paul or Shak
speare?
Moreover, Swedenborg is startlingly anticipative of
much that men since his day have discovered and are
discovering. Future scholars with our new sense of
fairness will not be contented to leave unacknowledged
his profound conjectures in widely differing fields of
the sciences; nor will they be satisfied until they under
stand the intellectual quality that made him a master
in processes of thought and modes of insight as yet
very imperfectly apprehended. In the introduction to
his English translation, published in 1843, of Sweden
borg's "Regnum Animale," James .John GartL'Yil
( k~n made the interesting observation, which has
'
gained added point and force by the lapse of eighty
years:" The principles of Swedenborg have increas·
i ing root and power. They are more true now to the
rational inquirer than they could possibly be to the
men of Swedenborg's day; wherever he adopted false
t
17. CATHEDRAL OF UPSALA. CONTAINING SWEDENnORG'S MAUSOLEUM
FROM ETCHING BY HAIG
Courtcsy of Robert Dunthornc and Son, London
18. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
facts they furnished a worse basis for his system than
the more solid materials of modern discovery."
It is no part of my purpose either to commend or
discommend the particular cont.~nts of Swedenborg's
manuscripts; but it may be proper to say that, in so
far as there has been affirmative or constructive prog
ress in religious and ethical achievement in the last
century and a half, the sanest and most virile thought
of the world has tak~ -nnportantstrides in the dire;.
tion of accord with the prinëiples of- Swedenborg's
system of spiritual psychology.--sicle byside with
that fact is the still moot question in many quarters
as to whether what is unusual in these writings is
prophetie or pathologie. When this problem is seri
ously worked out by the world 's savants, the first
hand evidences of Swedenborg's method of work and
production will be of prime value in the case.
The Educative Setting
Of Swedenborg's Times.
Swedenborg's lot fell in a very important period of
the intellectual development of his native country. His
early years of study followed the victory of a freer
and more progressive Cartesianism over a dogmatic
and reactionary ecclesiastical rule in educational cir
cles. His Alma Mater was the center of the new in
fluences. Contemporaneously with his active manhood,
practical modern science was just planting itself.
lS
19. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
Swedenborg himself suggested improved methods in
mining and smelting i Linné organized the science of
botanYi another contemporary introduced the use of
the threshing-machine; still another established the
first chemical laboratory in Sweden. On aU hands
there was a willingness to accept the new. S~p
borg~asjland in gloTIL'YiJh aU this effort at national
.imp'rovemept. -
His intimate contact with the widening horizon in
Sweden was the best preparatory school possible for
the larger knowledge of the outside world. Sweden
borg's mind first grasped aU his countrymen were
working at and writing about, and then reached for
what the best minds of aIl the world were striving to
ac~inp.lish. By the time he was a man ~f middle-age
he had become what was known as a universal scholar.
It has been said that he was the~-fhe genus.
Sinc~ his time-aU-the- sciences have heen specialized,
and today a great and learned scholar may know thor
oughly his special field and have only a general idea
of the rest of the domains of knowledge. Sweden
borg's facility in his amazing universal acquaintance
with. t,he world of his t.@e ~a~ so naturaI~-s~y, so
servlCeable that he was quahfied as no man III our
classifying and specializing age could possibly be qual
( ified for giving an all-around view of life and its
cosmic arena. "Plato was a gownsman beside him,"
admits Emerson. Ii was impos_êible for him, ~~~ l!!s
6
20. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
fair love of truth, to be partial or partisan. He could
not study thè-bodyWithout taking cognizance of the
mind; the world, without a spiritual counterpart;
matter, without life; phenomena, without congenial
and correspondent oversoul.
. Hence one never thinks of his books as tasks, as the
labored outcome of a theory. He m:.it~s as one inter
ested consumedly in a fruitful world of tr~th in ~l:gch
his_ mind finds itself. This quality becomes more in
tense with the passing years. In his ripeness of seer
ship he writes as one who has no concern for manner,
j but is enamored -of the supremëvaiuéo( the matter
he has to impart.
He writes on chemistry and methods of arithmetic;
on bones and the brain; on taxation and prohibition;
on man and God; on heaven and hell,-and always
with one paramount purpose, namely, that the reader
shall obtain a rational apprehension of the subject;
nay, more, that through.-Jh.e..~tlldy__2Lthi~--.êEbj~t,
whatever it may be, the reader shall become rational.
"Vhat shall l re~d to get -a knoWledgeof Swedenbo;g1
is frequently asked. Swedenborg would say, Do I!ot
read me at aIl unless you wish to understand. Mere
knowledge-meansnotiüng iD: itself:The great p1!!p.ose
of the art of writing, the one use of the printing press,
is the presentation of truths by which the sense-bound,
time and space swaddled mind can learn to think
sanely and rationally and comprehensively.
7
21. THE SroRY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
The titles of his smaller books, and the lateness of
the dates of their publication, indicate rather clearly
( the truths that Swedenborg regarded as paramount in
1
) human importance. In the years behind him he had
treated elaborately of the body and the body's -Würld,
insisti:iIg on the· principles of influx, degree~,-se~s,
and correspondences. Later, along similar lines, he had
worked out at great length !lis doc~rine of r:.ey~n
as spiritual and correspondential and his doctrine of
) the Lord as the community of God with man ln [he
( Divine Humanity of a reclaimed social order. Now
it would seem that in his smaller books he Ts endeav
oring to lay out paths by which men interested in
Un4_ElT~j;andingmight easily walk into the larg-;;-truths
) of his Arcana and Explicata. His tireless pen ex
patiates on conjugial love, on Providence, on creative
love and wisdom, on heaven and hell, on the last and
accomplished judgment, on the New J erusalem. He
covers familiar ranges of speculation and terminology,
as was necessary if he were to have any footing in
the world's intellectual commerce; but his visiQ.:f.l_ is
Cfresh and original, his method and aim creative and
l fec~il.d, p~tting ~v4lg ~ignificaI.!.~~ int o ev~ry 'W~~:9-Et
î sym-lol, and thr.9~ng the. center E-f gravity for §piritu
l alïty ~-Sl revela;tion, not in any past, but wholly in the
future. Not what humanity was, but what it is to be,
is what counts.
8
22. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
Vast Range and Scope of
Swedenborg's Literary Production.
As might have been expected, considering his avidity
for learning, his intimate participation in his coun
try's scientific aspirations, his world knowledge of the
achievements of other nations, his~rdent _desire !o
use the printing pres~ for the common enligh!~!1ment,
Swedenborg became a prolific writer of books.-· IDs
literary legacy is immense. How voluminous his
original output was, and how numerous the reproduc
tions of that output, may be inferred from a moment 's
examination of Hyde's "Bibliography of the Works
of Emanuel Swedenborg," publGhed in --London -in .-
-.-.~-.
1906, which in 690 pages treats of 3,500 items of pub
lished :works, taking no account of the literature grow
ing out of the study of Swedenborg and his philosophy.
The researcher endeavoring to appraise the wealth
of Swedenborg's literary remains as found in the li
braries of the world would note four distinct divisions
of publishing activity and productivity.
1{ In the first place there are the original works issued
- - - -----
·by Swedenborg in Sweden, Germany, Holland, and
England, in the Swedish and Latin languages. These
works, treating of mathematics and chemistry in the
beginning, and of God and spiritual psychology at the
ending, are a library by themselves. Of course, aIl
the copies extant of any volume of these originals are
9
23. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
in the class of rare and expensive books, seldom if ever
found for sale.
The second class of publications of Swedenborg's
2 authorship covers the reprint..~jJL~atin and in trans
lations into other languages of theworks orIgllïa1iy
seen through the press by Swedenborg. Swedenborg
has been translated almost fully into the principal
Eun>pean l~ngu~ges ~-d partly i~tom~ny-others.
Hence by far the largest number of items in any list
or catalogue would come under this head of repub
lications.
The third form in which Swedenborg is found in
the libraries is in the editions, in Latin or in transla
tions, of works left unfinished or at least unpublished
by their author at the time of his death.
A fourth mode of perpetuating Swedenborg's writ
ings is the ~xact reproduction by lithographing or
phototyping, and recently by the photostat process,
Ir - o( the IIll1J~.l!.scripts in Swedenborg's·ha;dwrlting
found after his death among his possessions or in
other custody.
Each of these currents of publication, running with
more or less persistency through many decades of
endeavor, has its own interesting story of devotion,
sacrifice, co-operation, and casualty. l shaH have little
to say about the first three lines of publication except
incidentally when treating of the preservation of
Swedenborg's writings. l shall endeavor, rather, to
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26. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPfS
give briefiy an account of the nature, history, and
present whereabouts of themanuscripts known to be
still in existence. - < . --------- -
EMIy Training and
The Formation of
The W riting Habit.
Emanuel Swedenborg was born in the City of Stock-
holm in 1688. His father was Dr. Jesper Swedberg,
Bishop of Skara in Westrogothia, and his mother was
Sarah Behm, daughter of Albrecht Behm, Assessor
of the Royal Board of Mines. His father was Rector
of the University at Upsala during Swedenborg's
earliest years, when his studies were conducted under
the paternal guidance. After his father's accession
to the bishopric and removal to Skara, Swedenborg's
youthful years passed pleasantly in Upsala under the
-_.
care of his sister and her husband, Ericus Benzelius.
This brother-in-Iaw of Swedenborg's was a distin-
_.---._~--~
guished scholar and was finally appointed Archbishop
of Sweden. He seems to have taken an uncommon
personal interest in the intellectual welfare of the
boy and no doubt contributed greatly to his progress.
The friendship of mind between the two continued
long after the student days. Most of Swedenborg's
known letters from abroad and from other parts of
Sweden were addressed to him, and many smaU scien-
tific works written in Swedenborg's younger manhood
11
27. THE !TORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
are preserved with Bishop Benzelius's papers in the
Diocesan Library of Linkoping. These treatises of
the young SWëdenborg-hav; distinctive value, and
some of them have recently been published for the
first time in a new but still uncompleted edition of
their author's scientific works.
In 1709 Swedenborg ended his studies at Upsala,
and from 1710 to 1715 he was traveling and studying
in various foreign countries. His first published writ
ings were in the nature of poetry, of a conventional
and moralistic type, but characterized by brilliancy of
expression and a classic taste. In 1716, the year in
which Charles XII appointed him Assessor in the
College of Mines, he was one of the projectors and
the chief editor of the first scientific magazine pub
lished in Sweden, Daedalus Hyperboreus. In 1721
he went again to Rolland for a considerable stay, and
published several scientific works in that country. In
1773 he made his third journey abroad, spending most
of the time in GermanYi and in Leipzig in 1734 he pub
lished the first- ofthe three volumes of his "Opera
Philosophica et Mineralia."
First AccumulatioM of
Scientific Manuscripts.
From all these years of travel, of publishing, and
of work as Assessor of Mines, there remain great
quantities of papers, memoranda, letters, and larger
12
28. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
manuscripts. Contained in the manuscript volumes
of this period are works with these titles: "Geomet
rica et Aigebraica," "The Magnet," "The Extrac
tion of Silver and Copper," "Sulphur and Pyrites,"
"Vitriol," and "The First Principles of Natural
Things. " These are aIl in the Royal Swedish Acad
. emy of Sciel?-~~s in Stockho1ID~-the Siat~Aréhlves
in the same city is an important work growing out of
Swedenborg's practical labors as Assessor of Mines.
This is a folio codex containing a description of
Swedish iron furnaces and the process of smelting
iron, which Swedenborg presented in 1719 to the Royal
College of Mines, in whose library it was p;;;~ved
~til a- few yêars ago, when it was taken to the State
Archives. It has been published in Swedish, and is
obtainable from the booksellers.
Among sorne quite recently discovered manuscripts
in Swedenborg's handwriting is one called "Dialogue
Between Mechanica and Chymica." This was found
among the writings of C~ph~!~olhem in the
Royal Library. It is not probable that Swedenborg
was the responsible author of this work, and it has
been supposed that he may have written it in collab
oration with Polhem. Polhem was in sorne sort a
benefactor and patron of the young Swedenborg, culti
vated his intimate friendship, and loved him like a
son. He was in the royal service and was a close
counselor of Charles XII in aIl things mechanical and
18
29. THE SroRY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
mathematical. He introduced Swedenborg to the
King, thus initiating the friendship between Charles
and Swedenborg, and paving the way for the young
man 's appointment, on the King's personal knowledge
of his merits, as an Assessor in the College of Mines.
Swedenborg worked over sorne of Polhem's papers
as a sort of secretarial critic, and possibly as amanu
ensis. Moreover, it was also to Polhem'~_~econd
dllt_,,:!gl!!~r that Swedenborg gave an unrequited love,
the only afÏair of the heart his biographers describe.
Life in Stockholm
A.s a Man of AfJair.s.
In 1719, on the ennoblement of his family by Queen
ffirica Eleonora and the change of the family name
from Swedberg to Swedenborg, he became entitled to
(aseat in the National Diet of Sweden. He was active
in the business of the Diet in 1723, and was regular
: in his attendance for the next ten years both at the
sessions of the Diet and the daily meetings of the
. College of Mines. His memorials and memoranda are
among the manuscripts preserved from this period.
A large quarto volume, begun in 1733, contains
various papers on philosophy and science, together
with his journals of travel. Many of the contents were
_ ~ written at a later date, and parts of the codex have
,r' 1 'l.--- ) been torn out, among them eight pages containing
(,) Swedenborg's dreams recorded from 1736 to 1740.
1~
30. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
The years foilowing 1733-'35, when the "Opera Phil
osophica et Mineralia" had been printed, were the
summit period of Swedenborg's career as a student of
natural things. He had for years been going deeply
into the sciences of the human body, and now devoted
himself almost exclusively to the study of these sub
jects. In the Library of the Royal Swedish Academy
of Sciences are six large manuscript volumes on anat
o~my aE.d p!lysiologY.. Sorne of these had not- ~venbêén
examined with care until recent years.
As usual, these manuscripts never published by the
author were preparatory and tentative efforts that
gave way to more fini shed works which were published
to the world. Although his mind was markedly practi
cal, and his strongest early bias was for mathematics
and mechanics, he was scholarly and punctilious in his
habits as a writer. He was indefatigable in the use of
his pen, copying or digesting tJ1e ~uthoriti~ in each
branch of science on w~ic~ he w~ote, and then ~~
pounding with lucidity and originality his own con-
f c~usi~n~ based on the known facts thus cited~-·Through
out his long career as a writer, both on scientific and
theological subjects, he had a habit of making copious
plans and drafts of a contemplated work, and would
go back to these preliminary manuscripts for material
in preparing his books for the press. So that, while
the manuscripts used by his printers were ail lost in
the usual way of "dead" copy in printshops, yet
15
31. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
among his documentary remains were masses of ma
teria1 drawn upon in the preparation of the books
published by himself.
From the time of his appointment to the royal ser
vice in the College of Mines Swedenborg resided in
Stockholm, purchasing a small estate, where he made
bis home for the rest of his life. -This domicile was
, situated in Hornsgatan, in the southern part of the
' Swedish capital, and consisted of his dwelling, a S!!!!1
mer-house, where he kept his library and wrote in
l pl~asant weather, several other buildings, and his gar
den. The house itself was a plain structure with smal1
rooms, and was the habituaI workshop of the constant
) writer, in 'Yhich he kept his manuscripts so arranged
as to be of easy reference. . --
Search for the Soul;
"The Worship and Love of God:"
In 1740 Swedenborg published at Amsterdam bis
"Œconomia Regni Animalis," a profound attempt to
solve the problem; ~f ps~hology through astudy of
physiology and its analogies. This was scarcely off
the press when his method seemed to him inadequate,
and in 1744 he brought out at The Hague the first two
volumes of his "R_egnuII!~A_~ÎI~le," the third vol~me
fol1owing in 1745, printed in London. This seems to
have marked the ending of Swedenborg's distinctly
16
32. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
scientific studies and of his speculations growing out
of natural philosophy.
------~. Before he had finished his "Regnum Animale"
he was deep in another work, of quite a different char
acter, which divides in rather a striking way the
earlier Swedenborg mind from that of his later years.
This is his "vVorship and Love ~. God." Throughout
the ten years before the publication of his "Regnum
Animale, " which is really an attempt to solve the
questions of the nature and kingdom of uses of the
human soul, Swedenborg's mind had been the arena
of mighty confiicts and surprising transformations.
His intellectual experiences had become complex and
his lines of speculation widely separated in their ob
jectives. He had already, as far back as 1734, pub
lished his "Outlines of a Philosophical Argument on
the Infinite, and the Final Causé of érêation.;aïïcI(;n
the Intercourse Between the Soul and the Body." In
) 1741 he wrote a work entitled "A Hieroglyphic Key
to Natural and Spiritual Mysteries by vVay of Repre
sentations and Correspondences." There is a]so a
) book consisting of his dreams in 1743 and 1741=. These
r two works Swedenborg never published.
1-.---- The manuscripts written after the publication in
London of the first two parts of "The Worship and
Love of God" in 1745 are, with very limited excep
tions, devoted to theological and spiritual subjects.
Swedenborg never issued the third part of this work.
1 l7
33. THE STORY OF THE SWEL'ENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
The Library of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sci
ences possesses the unfinished third voh~e, consisting
partly of printed proofsheets and partly of manu
script. This library also contains his own coPy oL!~e
first two volumes, in~cribed with his marginl!l notes.
It was at tÏÏis time, after returning to Swedenand
} re-entering on his duties as Assessor, that he resumed
~I the study of Hebrew, reading through many times the
entire Old Testament in that language. Meanwhile he
meditated on these ancient Scriptures with his pen
in hand, producing his "Ady_~§aria," -3 commentary
on the Old Testament from Genesis to J eremiah. The
last entry is dated the 9th of February, 1747, and the
work was doubtless regarded by its author as propre·
deutic and preliminary. It consists of three large
manuscript codices, making nine volumes octavo in
Dr. Î~anuel Tafel 's printed edition.
In this year 1749 Swedenborg began the writing of
his "Memorabilia," ordinarily described as "The
Spiritual Diary," to which he continued to make addi
tions for many years, the last entry being dated De
cember 30, 1764. This work consists of nine volumes
of manu§cripts preserved in the Library of thê:Ràyal
Swedish Academy of Sciences, the first volume being
incomplete. The contents of the "Diary" are inci
dental in subject and fragmentary in treatment, but
like the" Adversaria" they are preliminary and ex
perimental excursions along the lines followed in
18
34. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
Swedenborg's matured theological works, which he
began publishing in 1749.
Publication of Swedenborg's
Theological Works.
The first of the theological works published was
"Arc~~a Coelestia," issued in London in eight large
. qua~t?s from 1749 to 1756. A first draft of the greater
part of this elaborate work, consisting of sixte~!l_~~_n
1 uscript volumes, is contained in the Library of the
) Àcademy of -Sciences. With it is an ind~x ~ three
{vol~_~s. The" Arcana" was soon followed by sev
eral shorter works, among them "Heaven and Hell,"
in which is compressed the philosophy illustrated or
hinted at in the "Diary."
The next large manuscript produced by Sweden
borg, and which he left unpublished, was the" 4poc.?-
lypsis Explicata," nearly fini shed in 1759. Of this
work the Library of the Royal Swedish Academy of
( Sciences possesses ~ manus~ipt_~op~s. The first
< was Swedenborg) original Qraft, in nine oblong folio
(VOlUE!es. T~e ~econd copy}~ in thre_e quarto volumes,
written in a fair hand for printing. However, Sweden
borg never placed it in the liands of the printer, but
covered the same general theme in his work "~poca
lyp'~Revelata," published in 1766. Of this work the
Library of the Academy of Sciences has two manu
1~
35. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
script indexes. One of these indexes is in a codex
} in which is included also a.!! in~~~gelic Wisdom
î Concerning Marriage," a work that has never been
1 discover~d. A.:!.1ôth~r i!1d~x ~f considerabi~ length-!~
, the same lost work is also in existence. These manu
scripts were used by Swedenborg in his preparation
) of the published work, "De Amore Conjugiale, "
printed in Rolland in 1768.
Other manuscripts belong to the years when
Swedenborg was engaged in writing the" Apocalypsis
. Explicata." Among these are" A Summary Exposi
tion of the InternaI Sense of the Prophetical Books
and the Psalms of the Old Testament," "The Lord,"
l "The Athanasian Creed," "The Canons, " "Five
Memorable Relations, " "The Sacred Scripture,"
j "The Spiritual World," "The Precepts of the Deca
logue,,, together with "The Divine Love" and "The
Divine Wisdom," tWQ works :published posthumously
/
1 and not to be confused with S~edeEbo_rg~s ~_ p~
lication, "The Divine Love and Wisdom," of which
they were the draft preparatio~ These manuscripts
are aIl in the Library of the Royal Swedish Academy
of Sciences.
An interesting variation in his manuscript produc
tions is a paper, not found until as late as 1907, which
is the draft or copy for j!n artick-by Swedenborg at
) the age of 75, published in 1763 in the Proceedings of
' the Academy of Sciences on "A Description of the
) 20
36. ) THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORC MANUSCRIPTS
) Mode in Which Marble Slabs Are Inlaid for Tables
and Other Ornaments."
-------- In 1771 Swedenborg published his "True Christian
Religion. " Before and after that event --h-;-producêd
a nu~bér of small works which remained only in man
( uscript at the time of his death,-short treatises on
"Marriage," ,,Justification and Good Works," "Con
) versations with Calvin," "The Faith of the Reformed
( Derived from the Roman Catholic Church," "Sum
mary Doctrine of the New Church," "The Consum
mation of the Age," "Invitation to the New Church,"
) and the" Coronis, or Appendix to the True Christian
Religion, " written the year before his death.-
Manuscripts Are Donated ta
Royal Swedish Aca.demy of Sciences.
Swedenborg died in London in 1772. His habit had
been to write in his lodgings in foreign lands with the
same regularity and diligence as when at home in
Stockholm. In due course t~IIl~~~iP.t~J.9-.!1!.1~~n
.
) his lodgings in the home of Richard Shearsmith, in
C;;idb~th Fields, London, were collected.- a;2l sent to
) Stockholm. These manuscripts, together with all
those stored at the house in Hornsgatan, naturally
passed into the hands of the Swedenborg family, who,
si;:}ce Swedenborg left no will, had become-heirs to ms
estate.
21
37. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
On October 20 of the same year the official repre
sentatives of the heirs conveyed to the ROYal Swedi;h
Academy of scieIïëes aU the manuscripts in Sweden
borg's handwriting that had come into their posses
sion, toget~er with a carefuUy. prep.ared catalogu.e ac
cording to their general subjects, with the !equ~~t
that'~th~_same mighLb~ p:t~serYEld in the Library of
the Academy with that care which was expected from
the contents of the Documents, and with the respect
due to the deceased and the honor of his family th.~.n
and at aU future ~ime r~quiri.ng."
In later years two attempts were made by repre
sentatives of the heirs to reclaim the gift made to the
11 Academy of Sciences. In 1778 the offer of a consid
erable sum of money from England led to an e_ff~!t
to dispossess the Library of the Swedenborg manu
scripis, but without result.FHty 'years later, in1828,
2 one Abraham Berg, a citizen of Stockholm, brought a
lawsuit against the Academy of Sciences to obtain
the manuscripts as the rightful owner py ~cquisition of
title from th~h~irs. He lost his suit in aU the courts;
and the King ~~~n, acting as a final tribunal,
l after personaUy examining aIl the evidence in the case,
f~er ~~t the whole-Elatter at rest by adjudicating
î bYJQYal decree that the Royal SWëdish Academy- of
( Sciences was the sole owner of the Swedenborg manu
scripts in its custody.
22
39. SWEDENBORG'S HOUSE IN HORNSGATAN, STOCKHOLM. THE SUM
MER HOUSE SHOWN AMONG THE 'fREES IS NOW IN SKANSEN
NATIONAL PARK
HOUSE OF NOBLES, STOCKHOLM
40. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
lnterest of Swedenborg
Students in the Manuscripts.
Swedenborg had done a little of his earliest work
of publication in co-operation with friends, his ex
cuse to Charles XII for the cessation of Daedalus was
lack of funds, and his "Opera Philosophica et Miner
alia" seems to have had some princely patronage in
Germany. Otherwise the writing and p~b~sJ:1.!!,g of
, his works w~re ~rried on by_ hims~lf without any col
~ laboration or outside supp~rt. His amazing industry
~ SUfficed for the writing, and an inheritance ~ro~ his
...
( step-mother supplemented his salary in enabling him
. to achieve the printing and publishing.
After his death, however, others displayed note
worthy zeal in efforts to give to the world such works
of Swedenborg's as were still lying in manuscript
form. At first the motive of those interested in these
documentary remains was perhaps more propagandist
than scholarly, and their aim was directed to the re
production of the posthumous works of Swedenborg
by publication and translation and not to the preserva
tiop. in their completeness and intactness oLt.h.Et ~a~u
script~ themselves. In co-operating with these ad
mirers and students of Swedenborg, the custodians
of the manuscripts seem to have interpreted with
great latitude the injunction of the donors to preserve
their gift with proper and adequate care. The manu
28
41. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
scripts w~_q!1ite g~nerouslili~t, and numerous and
impo!-i~gt PQ~~~9_~S "~ere tel!!P~!:..argy lo_st.
The first borrower of the manuscripts seems to have
r;,
,' ,(1,-.....,
, ..
, been Augtlstus -
"_. ~- .. -
' Nordenskjold, an inspector of mines
--".
and a member of the Academy. Swedenborg had left
part of bis writings in 100se sheets, and it was Augustus
Nordenskjold who had the manuscripts bound in the va
rious codices in which they have been preserved. The
~r~i~:ri1ry~ivision 9f sorne _?"Ltl!.e_.~o!,ks into "Parts"
was due to the incident of binding and not to any pur
pose of their author. Nordenskjold in 1780 had pub
lished in London at his own expense the Latin edition
of Swedenborg's "Coronis," and writes in a letter in
1782, "1 continue to have copied out fairly each day
sorne interesting manuscript of Swedenborg's which
l borrow from Wargentin,"-this Wargentin then be
ing librarian for the Academy of Sciences. Augustus
had a brother, c. F. Nor~nskj~ld, who was aiso inter
ested in Swedenborg's writings. In 1783 this brother
was going to England, and, having learned that there
was in that country a society devoted to the publica
tion and dissemination of Swedenborg's doctrines, he
carried with him copies of such works as had been
transcribed and was also responsible for the transfer
to England of certain origln?:l manuscripts, with"1h'-e
purpose ofhaVlng them printed by thi;"sà~iety. He
placed himself in connection with the group of
Swedenborg students in England and eventually left
24
42. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
the manuscripts in their hands. The works were pub
lished in Latin and English, chiefly through the gen
erosity and efforts of J ohn._ ~_ug~-g.s Tulk, M. P., and
-"
Robert Hindmarsh. They were "The Apocalypse Ex
._. - .. --
---
plained," "The Hieroglyphic Key," "The Prophets
and Psalms," "The Divine Love" and "The Divine
Wisdom."
The Lost "Apocalypse Explainetl·
A Treasure House of New Teaching.
Of these, the first, "Apocalypsis Explicata," is one
-~.. > "~--_., .----_.
of the most important of Swedenborg's entire list of
works. The manuscript borrowed by Nordenskjold
was the one copied by Swedenborg in fair hand for
the printer. In England Nordenskjold placed this
manuscript in the hands of Henry Peckitt, the presi
dent of the publishing society then existing in London.
The work of editing the manuscript was divided among
several members of the society, Mr. Peckitt taking to
his house one volume as his share of the task and de
positing it in his desk. ~_ ~!:.'L12rok~-.?~t in his house,
and the roof and walls fell in while firemen were seek
ing to remove the contents. Mr. Peckitt believed that
his treasured volume was lost irreparably; but ~
neighbor informed hirn that he had picked up sorne
books on the street at the time orthe fir;-;nd carrre-d
thern to his -home for safekeeping. Àmong thern was
the volume on which Mr. Peckitt had been working.
25
43. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
A fireman had found the desk too heavy to move, and
had opened it and thrown its contents out of window.
In 1785 Volume l was printed in Latin, the fourth and
last volume- appearing in -1790~ the joint private
expense of four members of the society.
After the work was published the manuscript was
returned to Mr. Peckitt, who held it only in trust for
the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and with the
purpose of returning it at the first favorable oppor
tunity to the Library in Stockholm; but no such oppor
)
tunity occurred in his lif~ime, the French Revolution
breaking out and the disturbed state of Europe mak
ing international relations too unreliable to risk the
sending of the manuscript. It remained in the hands
of Mr. Peckitt 's friends or family uI!~8,}Yh~t
1 wa§. pre.-sent~<i.-t~ t~~~wedenborg S9gie_ty i J1_L..QE:don,
which preserved it until 1842, when with other manu
) scripts it was restored to its rightful owner, the Acad
emy of Sciences. In 1859 the manuscript was bor
rowed and taken to Germany by Dr. Immanuel Tafel,
who republished the work in Latin at Stuttgart. In
187Q the manuscript was photolithographed under the
direction of Dr. Rudolf L. Tafel at Stockholm.
Swedenborg's Memorabilia,
Known as "The Spiritual Diary."
The second borrower of manuscripts was C~~!~s
-
Berns fu.g.strom, a man of considerable parts and
- 26
44. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
noted for his efforts in behalf of the abolition of
African slavery in British Dominions. As early as
1790 a librarian 's memorandum is recorded in the
Library of the Academy of Sciences that Sweden
borg's "Memorabilia" had been lent to Director C. B.
Wadstrom, a member of the Academy. Previous to
the date of this memorandum Mr. Wadstrom had left
- --
Sweden for England with some of the Academy's
Swedenborg manusc!,ipts and with transcripts of
a number of other of Swedenborg's works in the
1Academy's Library. The originals were the manu
scripts of the Memorabilia, otherwise known as the
Greater and Lesser Diaries, and a portion of the
l "Index Biblicus." The copies were "The Canons,"
"The Lord," "The Athanasian Creed," "The Doc
trine of Charity," "The Last Judgment and the
Spiritual vVorld," "Conversation with Angels," "In
vitation to the New Church," and "The Coronis."
In the inventory made in 1841 by the Librarian of
( - - --
1 the Royal Swedish Acad.emy of S~~.nces for t~e P~E-
pose of learning the status of the Swedenborg manu
scripts, the Memorabilia~;e-descnbedas l~st. Aii~r
1 Mr. Vvadstrom had reached England in 1788 he asso
ciated himself with his friend, c. F. Nordenskjold, who
1 1
still had in his possession certain Swedenborg manu
scripts which he desired to have published, and t~e
two - Swedish gentlemen had an interview with Bene
. - ~ - - .. _-------
dict Chast!lnier, a French physician and apothecary
27
45. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
resident in London, who had been active in translating
Swedenborg's works into French. Chastanier accepted
the manuscripts and undertook by means of printed
prospectuses to interest Swedenborg's admirers and
students in their publication. His efforts met with
no immediate success, although the works were aU
issued later in Latin and translated editions. Chas
tanier himself, besides translating considerable por
tions of them, made a faithful copy of extended sec
tions of the Memorabilia, which many years Iater
proved of great value to Dr. Irnrnanuel Tafel when he
published the Latin text. ChastaIl~r in his Iater
~
years became greatly impoverished, -
_..
and in his ex
tremity parted with sorne of the Swedenborg manu
, scripts as pa~~_ t~ creditors. He finally perished-at
nearly eighty years of age in a snowstorm in Scotland.
By devious ways the manuscripts that had been in his
( custody carne eventually into the hands of the Sweden
borg Society of London. This Society, desiring to
( understand its right to the possession of these manu
, scripts, in 1842 cornrnunicated with the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences for information concerning the
ownership of the documents as governed by the
original gift. The Academy__ produced indisputable
1 proo.!s o(o~er~hip and the Swedenboig SocietYim
mediately passed resolutions restoring the manu
scripts to the Swedish Library.
Before shipping the manuscript of the Memorabilia
28
46. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
to Sweden, however, the Swedenborg Society, with the
consent of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences,
dispatched it to Dr. Immanuel Tafel, in Germany, for
purposes of transcription and publication. The work
was printed by him in 1843 and 1844 with the title,
"Eman. Swedenborgii Diarium Spirituale, Partes II
et III." Dr. Tafel returned the manuscript to the
Swedenborg Society of London, and, after rebinding
the document in two elegant morocco volumes, tÈ-~
Society in 1845 restored it to the Swedenborg archives
in the Library of the RoyaCSwedishÂc~demy of Sci
_ ' - - ' __ 0 ' •• _ _._ • ., _ _ •• _ _ _ _
ences after an absence of more than half a century.
'-...--~ In 1843 Dr. A. Kahl, a student of Swedenborg and
a friend of Dr. Tafel 's, became aware of the circum
stance that an original codex of Swedenborg 's ~en:!
or~bilia was in possession of the University Library of
Upsala. This proved to be the portion of the Memora
bilia that preceded in dates and numbering the original
manuscript sent by the London Society to Dr. TafeI.
This Upsala manuscript was one of those that Augus
tus NQ.@en~kj~~ had had transcribed, and copies of
which had been taken by his brother, C. F. Norden
skjold, to England. Then ir;- some-~ay -th~-d~~nt
had-been deposited in the University Library at Up
sala instead of being returned to the Library of the
Academy of Sciences, where it had been left by the
Swedenborg heirs. Through Dr. Kahl's exertions con
sent of the authorities was obtained for the use of
29
47. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
this codex by Dr. Tafel, and forthwith the Senate of
Upsala University transmitted the manuscript to
Tübingen, where it was published by Dr. Tafel, in 1844
and 1845, "j!lL thtj;itle, "Emanuelis Swedenborgii
Diarium Spirituale, Pars I, Vols. 1 et 2." The manu
script was replaced in the Library of the University
of Upsala, where it remained unti11870, when through
----- --
the efforts of Dr. Rudolf L. Tafel it was restored to
the Library of the Academy of Sciences at Stockholm.
Another portiollof the Mem;r;bÜia, written in the
years 1750 and 1751, was in a small octavo volume,
also borrowed by Wadstrom and taken to England.
After having been for years in the possession of one
D. R. McNab, it was restored to the Academy of Sci
ences in 1842. Before its return to Stockholm the
Academy of Sciences lent it to Dr. Immanuel Tafel,
who published it in that same year with the title,
"Emanuelis Swedenborgii Diarii Spiritualis Pars IV,
sive Diarium Minus."
Swedenborg systematically constructed copious in
dexes of his works while he was writing them. He
numbered his writing by paragraphs instead of by
pages, and consequently the numeration was equally
serviceable in the manuscript and in the printed copy.
He made constant use of his indexes in the composi
tion of later books, both for his own convenience in
rewriting or amplification and for referring his
readers to elaborations elsèwhere of the subject in
80
48. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
hand. His index to the Memorabilia is characteristic
and notable.
Swedenborg's Memorab.ilia were written in the pe-
riod running from 1747 to 1756, and he made an ex-
tended index in four codices covering the whole series.
The Memorabilia are a sort of journal of his spiritual
experiences after he feIt himself established in a knowl-
edge of the spiritual world. Before he had decided to
write these muItiplying experiences in separate vol-
umes, they had been interspersed from time to time
in his "Adver..§!!E.ia," the chief work engaging his
attention in those years. The index, in addition to
covering several parts of the "Diarium Spirituale,"
as contained in the manuscripts restored to the Acad-
emy of Sciences, includes these scattered experiences
-
recorded in the" Adversaria" and also what is de-
~_._--.
scribed as Part l of the manuscript of the" Spiritual
Diary." This first part has never been found. The
f original manuscripts and their printed copies begin
'1 at No. 149, and the missing part consg;ts of the first
. 14~ numbers, giving an account of Swedenborg's
spiritual experiences from the early months of 1747.
T~anuscript seems to have been located as origi-
nally belonging in one of the codices of the "Index
Biblicus," and to have been extracted befor_e the ma.n-
u§~Js were ëfon~ted bythe heirs to the Library.
~-- - --
This index to the Memorabilia appears to reveal quite
completely the contents of. the missing manuscript.
81
49. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
The four manuscript volumes of the index were bor
rowed from the Academy of Sciences in 1845 by the
Swedenborg Society of London and sent to Dr. Tafel,
who published them in 1846 and 1847 in his Latin edi
tion as, "Diarium Spirituale, Pars V, Volumina 1
et 2."
First Manuscript of
The "Arcana Coelestia."
The largest and in a sense the most important of
the theological works writt~n by Swedenborg is the
"Arcana Coelestia." He started its composition in
Holland about the beginning of 1748. In England he
arranged for its publication and distribution with
John Lewis, printer and bookseller. The first two
- ._~-
1 volumes were printed while the author was living
) either in Amsterdam or London, and the ..!!1an~~ipt
') ~edi.!! prepa~ation of the fair copy for the _priIlter
w~apparently destroyed together w:ith the one the
, printer used; but after the second volume most of the
work was written at Swedenborg's home in Stock
holm. From time to time he sent the manuscript to
his printer in London for publication, and as Sweden
borg had no opportunity to read the proofsheets the
( work contains many minor errors. As with ~~~~.~f
the other works, the manuscript used as printer's
copy for the "Arcana Coelestia" was destroyed; b}!t
there exists in the Library of the Royal Swedish Acad
82
50. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
emy of Sciences ~opy of this work covering those
parts issued after the two volumes published or
placed in the hands of the printer while Swedenborg
was abroad. Intended exclusively for the ~ite~~s
o~ .!!se, i~ i~ the 'lglJ!.~_~:t"-~t draft from which the
author made his copy for the printer. This manu
script was aU in loose sheets when first deposited at
the Library by the heirs. They were bound for the
first time along with other codices by Augustus N01'
denskjold. They consist of fift~en volume..s oblong
f91li> and one volume quarto. In places the writing
i is difficult to decipher. The text is frequently crossed
out and rewritten, exhibiting the author's mode of re
vision. For the most part, the !ll~nuscript is identical
wijh the work as printed, and Dr. Rudolf L. Tafel in
his studies in the Library from 1868 to 1870 was able,
by comparison with this document, to verify and jus
tify the corrections of errata noted by Dr. Immanuel
Tafel in his reprint of the "Arcana Coelestia" in
Germany in 1833 and 1834.
The manuscript of the "Arcana Coelestia" itself
never left the Library of the Academy of Sciences,
but it had an index in three vol~es, which ~ ..~t
one time "lost." The librarian in the Catalogue of
1790 states that C. F. Nordenskjold had borrowed a
complete index to the ":A.fëaiill êoelestia" in three
volumes. In 1875 Dr. Rudolf L. Tafel affirms in his
"Documents" that the second volume of this index
33
51. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
could not be located. It was afterward found in the
Academy's Library, having beèn overlooked in Dr.
Tafel 's investigations. The other two volumes had
been discovered quite unexpectedly in the University
Library at Upsala and restored to their prope:;:
custody.
The History of VariOU$
Other Manuscripts.
Closely identified with Swedenborg's transition from
a philosopher of the natural sciences to a writer on
spiritual subjects are two works known as the" Adver
saria" and the "Index Biblicus." The manuscript of
the "Adversaria" consists of four folio cadiees con
taIning explanations of various historical and prophet
ical books of the Old Testament, interspersed with
records of personal spiritual experience. The "Index
~~blic.Es" is bound in si~~~es, and presents the
author's codifications of the contents of the ancient
Scripturesdesigned for his own u~e in drawing out the
internaI sense. These manuscripts seem to have re
mained on the shelves of the Academy's Library with
out mishap and without adventure, except that they
were bonowed by Dr',Immanuel Tafel, who published
Latin reprints of them at Tübingen in 1847 and the fol
lowing years.
Occasionally a manuscript suffered serious misad
venture. From a most valuable and interesting codex
341
53. THE MINING EXCHANGE. STOCKHOLM
SWEDENBORG MEDAL, CAST BY' THE ROYAL SWEDISH ACADEM Y
OF SCIENCES IN 18;,2
54. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
of 1733, and containing papers on science and phi
losophy, together with Swedenborg's Journal of
--1 Travel, portions have been t~rn _~t, including a ~~d
~ ,./1 of dreams from 1736 to 1740, which seems to he irre
(j eç
..--
_ coverably lost.
.. ~.- .--
Among manuscripts that never were owned by the
Academy of Sciences is a small octavo volume usually
known as "Swedenborg's Dreams," being his p~_~~~t.e
di3:EY for 1743 and 1744. This is in the Royal Library
in Stockholm. The book had been in the possession of
R. She.!:.~ng~n, Professor and Lector at Vester:îs in
Sweden. He was an old man of ninety when he died in
1849, and the volume lay for sorne years ~mong 111:.s
literary effects, until in 1858 it was brought to the
Royal Library by its librarian, G. E. Klemming. This
gentleman afterward published the work in Swedish
with the title, "Swedenborgs Dr8mmar."
Of the work, "The Worship and Love of God," the
first twoparts of which had been published by Sweden
borg, the unfinished third p~!:t is preserved in the
Library of the Academy of Sciences, partly in proof
sheets and partly in manuscript.
~ Swedenborg made many notes on the margins of his
copy of Schmidius 's Latin text of the Bible, which is
in the Library of the Academy and has been reproduced
in photolithograph. Many of the notes are missing, the
p_age~ on which they were written hl}.Y.i~g b~~I!-lost.
Swedenborg's Al~a.!!ac for 1752 is preserved in the
85
55. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
Royal Library; it is inscribed with notes in his hand
writing on seeds and gardening, and on the progress in
the printing of the" Arcana Coelestia."
.'---- Four small manuscripts written by Swedenborg in
1759, and taken to England in 1788 with other works
to be printed, were never returned to Sweden and 3:E.e
accounted irreco~erab~y lo_~t. They were formerly in
cluded in a codex with a manuscript called "On
Charity," now in the Library of the Academy of Sci
ences. These little works are known as "The Lord,"
"The Athanasian Creed," "The Canons," and "Five
Memorable Relations." Fortunately, copies of them
h~"d been made before they were taken from the
Library.
The original manuscript of "A Summary Exposi
tion" was lost for many years. It was among the
manuscripts taken to England by Mr. Nordenskjold
and Mr. Wadstrom, and after that nothing was heard
of it. A copy, however, was sent to England and it
was priiit;d"in that côuntry as
earlyas 178"4, among
the first of the Swedenborg posthumous publications.
In 1859 Dr. Immanuel Tafel was in possession of the
original manuscript when he was printing a new edi
tion, issued in Tübingen in 1860. After Dr. Tafel '8
death this manuscript _""as sent to the Swedenborg
Society ~ L~~~îon, where the document se~ms-tohave
bëen fo~gotten for- sôme years, :until in 18'/4, i~ was
86
56. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
fo~d iIU!- safe, and in due course was returned to the
Library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
From a manuscript volume made up of short trea.
tises on theological subjects, written by Swedenborg
f~om 1768 _t~ 1771, two little works consisting of a
summary or first draft of the "Coronis" and a trac
( tate on "The R~mis_sion of Sins" _'Y.~~e t~~ ou!~d
, lost. The codex in its original entirety had, however,
been copied, so that the contents of thes;-smaIIW"orks
are preserved.
------ A manuscript of first drafts of sundry memorabilia
in Swedenborg's last large work, "The True Chris
tian Religion," was left by th~ ~uthor on board ship on
his last voyage from Stockholm to Amsterdam. The
shipmaster gave the document to a ~d, and _~vent
ually it found its way to the Royal Library in Stock·
h~lm, in whose custody it remains.
A manuscript work called, "Index to the 'Concordia
Pia,' " has been lost ; bu~~. coP.y is p_~~erv~d in posses
sion of the Swedenborg Society in London.
Swedenborg wrote the "Coronis," as an appendix
to "The True Christian Religion," alm().§.t .. i~4i
ately before his death, and the wo!:k was printed "in
) Londori-~!!..!780~-but the o~iginal manuscript was lost,
one-half of it before printing commenced.
._--- For the most part the great number of letters and
fragments in Swedenborg's handwriting discovered in
37
57. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
the possession of his friends or in private libraries
have found their way into one or other of the main
collections of Swedenborgiana.
Mg;s y-reia ~!JJJi~lof, Assistant Librarian of the Royal
Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, in her
admirable account of the Swedenborg rnanuscripts,
makes this note: "With one exception, aIl the vol
umes which were consigned to the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences by SwedenboFg~_heirs are still - II
in existence, and are preserved in the Library of that
body. The only volume left in the care of the Academy
which has completely disappeared is the 'Inde..;...io the
Concordia _~.i-a.' No other codex is lost; but seve!..al
smaller works and treatises have been torn out from
-._-- - .
the voluE!.es in which they were included, and have
never been found."
Revival of Interest
In Swedenborg's
Unpublished Manuscripts.
After the activities of the last quarter of the
eighteenth century, interest in the reproduction of
Swedenborg's unpublished manuscripts appears to
have been eclipsed for a long terrn of years. The stu
dents of the theological writings became absorbed in
their propagation, which was carried on by the trans
lation and dissemination of the books published by
Swedenborg hirnself and of such manuscript works as
had already been put in print.
38
58. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
A half-century from the days of the first borrowers
------
of the manuscripts, however, James John Garth Wil
kin.§Qn, of London, is found engaged in the study of
Swedenborg's original manuscripts or manuscript
copies of the originals and in the publication of certain
notable works selected from them. Dr. Wilkinson was
profoundly concerned in the study of Swedenborg's
scientific writings, and with a few others formed the
-_._- ---
"Swedenborg Association," a society in London de
voted to the publishing of Swedenborg's scientific and
philosophical works, this association being later
.. _--_. ._-_.
'~'--" -.
merged in __the Swedenborg Society, a group organized
many years before, and continuing to the present clay.
In 1843 Dr. Wilkinson published his English transla
tion of Swedenborg's "Regnum Animale," with a mag
nificent introduction defining the relation of Sweden
borg's system to modern scientific needs. He published
in 1846 a number of Swedenborg's smaller manuscripts
in a volume called "Opuscula Quaedam Argumenti
Philosophici," and in 1847 he issued the same volume
in an English translation u~.cL~U~~E1eL~~f~.thu
m~us Tracts." In this same year he edited the Latin
of the manuscript called "Œconomia Regni Animalis
-Transactio III." In 1852 he published an English
translation of certain portions of Swedenborg's manu
script with the title, "The Generative Organs." . Dr.
Wilkinson collaborated in the translation of other
works of Swedenborg and wrote many original and
89
59. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
stimulating books along the lines of Swedenborgian
thought, continuingaetive in his output until his death
in London in 1899 at the ripe age of eighty-seven years.
Dr. JJ~I~~.!!l1el Tafel (1796-1863) was for sorne
years librarian at the University of Tübingen, when
on the publication of his "Fundamentalphilosophie"
------
the King of Württemberg appointed him in 1848 Pro-
----
f~~so.r oJJ~1.ü1.()~ophy il!. that Univer.sity. He was in
defatigable in th_~!~!-2.f publishing Latin editions of
Swedenborg's works and of translating them into Ger
man, besides being author in his own right of a large
number of theological, philosophical, and other books.
The works that Dr. Tafel published from Sweden
borg's manuscripts were "Diarium Spirituale,"
"Adversaria in Libros Veteris Testamenti," "Dicta
Probantia," "Itinerarium," a posthumous "Regnum
Animale," " Apocalypsis Explicata," and "Index
Biblicus. "
Three years after Dr. Tafel 's death we find the
American General Convention of the New Church ei~
hibiting interest in a continuation or enlargement of
the work that he had been carrying on from bis own
initiative and largely at bis own expense. An effort
was made tojoin forces with the Swedenborg S~ty
of London to accomplish the complete preservation
by transcription and multiplication of an Sweden
borg's manuscripts. In 1866 a committee was ap
pointed to confer with the Swedenborg Society in
40
60. THE STORY OF THE SWEDFNBORG MANUSCRIPTS
London with the purpose of continuing the printing
of the Latin edition. The English supporters of
Swedenborg's doctrines did not seem for the moment
willing to co-operate. Few, they asserted, would use
these Latin books, and Dr. J onathan BaYl~Yd?ne -.9-f 1
their most popular preachers, had made a visit to l
S1ockhol~ ;nd after-~-;uperficial examination of the ~ •
manuscripts had reported that there was little that it
would be valuable to publish. This opinion was not
concurred in at the time by the American Convention,
nor a Iittle Iater by the Swedenborg Society or the
General Conference in England. In 1867 an American
~
committee was created to. study the situation and pro
pose plans of procedure. The report of this committee
in 1868 w~s_ not encouraging SJ,.S !~ the _probability of
1
securing- - . _ necessary - but a short time after
-_.
the funds;
the meeting of the Convention in that year the admin
istrators of the estate of Mrs. Lydia Rotch, who had
left large funds for the propagation of the doctrines of
1 Swedenborg, placed a considerable sum of money at
the disposaI of the committee.
A contributing stimulus ta general interest in the
whole subject of Swedenborg and his literary remains
had been supplied in 1867 by the publication of ~ m
..... Y!ille's "Emanuel Swedenborg: His Life and Writ
ings. " White had been for years the agent of the
Swedenborg Society and for sufficient reasons had been
"1 ejected by a distressing lawsuit. His 1867 "Lue,"
-- - - ---
411
61. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
altogether different from one he had published some
years before, is appraised at this distance of view as
inaccurate~ant, and splenetic; but at the time of
its appearance it was very disturbing to the f~ds
( of Swedenborg. White had been a diligent collector
of Swedenborgiana, and his book contained references
to documents not at that time familiar to even the best
- - -
,iE-formed. The desire was awakened to have ~de
once for aIl a thorough-going survey of the manuscripts
written by Swedenborg and of the documents concern
11 ü;-g hiIn written by others. Wit~Li~~nds_~2ntri~1!t.~d
b~1J?e l9ich trustees an(Lth~ otherwise co!kcted, the
1 American committee felt justified in employing a qual
ified representative to make the investigations neces
f sary for the adequate knowledge of the faets con
cerning Swedenborg and his unpublished works.
Dr. R. L. Tafel's Investigatio11$;
Collection of Swedenborg Documents:
[P-~~o~pl.!.ing of Manuscripts.
Precisely the man for the work was found in Dr.
R~~ Leonard Tafel, then engaged as a professor at
( Washington University in St. Louis. He was a.E:ephew
/ of Dr. J. F. Immanuel Tafel., of Tübingen University,
and from his childhood had been trained in a knowl
edge of Swedenborg. A man of considerable natural
] ability, he was possessed by education and eXj)erience
of the learning and the scholarly ha~ts requisituor
42
64. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
the task. After accepting the commission to under
take the work, he sailed at the end of July, 1868, for
London, and soon after proceeded to Stockholm. He
forthwith made a "most minute and careful" examina
tion of the SwedenlJorg manuscripts preserved in the
Library of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Then, to quote his own words:
While engaged one day in the Royal Library in turning over
some of its literary treasures, he laid his hand upon some docu
ments respecting Swedenborg which had never heen published in
the English language. l t was then that the idea occurred to him
01 not -only making an exhaustive examination of the author's
unpublished writings, but also of coIlecting such documents re
specting him as might still he in existence, scattered over· the
various parts of his native country.
The Roy!!l 1ibrari~ in Stockholm, Mr. C. E. Klemming,
kindly entered into the editor's plans, and, at his request, at once
issued a circular which was inserted in most of the Swedish
journals, soIiciting aIl who were in possession of letters addressed
to, or written by, Swedenborg, or other documents respecting him,
to send them ta the Royal Library in Stockholm, where certified
copie~ould be taken. At the same time direct appeals were
made by the Royal Librarian and Mr. J. A. Ahlstrand, Librarian
of the Royal Academy of Sciences, to aIl antiquarians and col- )
lectors in furtherance of this obj ecC
r
~J
-="The r~sult was the accumulation, in a short time, of a~st )
mass of information respecting Swedenborg the very existence of
which had not previously been suspected.
The fruit of these labors was "~ume.nts. COllc~n
1ing Swedenborg('~igtlifee large vOlumes, pUblisiied in
l'London in 1875 and 1877, by which were added m~ny
48
65. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
smaller manuscripts to the known treasures of
Swedenborg's literary remains.
The primary intention on the part of the committee
and of the Convention was apparently only to continue
p.!1blishing ~--.1.-atin transcriptio,!1 of Swedenborg's
works, including the manuscripts of the theological
treatises; but very soon the suggestion was made that
~
the manuscripts should be photographed fo~preserva
tion outside of Stockholm in case of fire. Even a.§.hr
œck as 1868 the committee is reportë"d to be plaïiiii.llg
Cc;preserve andmüït~ly_cop~es of the_manuscrlpts by
photolithograE.~i.,ng. The suggestion seems to have
been made by the Rev. William H. Benade, of Phila
delphia, who was for sorne years chairman of the Con
vention 's committee and was credited with doing the
greater part of the work assigned to the committee.
The suggestion~f photolithograEhing the manuscripts
was made as a new idea after Dr. Tafel 's departure
for Sweden, nothing having been expected from his
labor but the copying of the documents. In this con
nection it is interesting to recall that the employment
lof photolithographmg fw the reproduction of the
D Swedenborg manuscripts was the first time the process
~
1waS tried out o~ a large scaie. ~ --
After a thorough investigation and calculation, Dr.
Tafel reporteà that if photolithographed the manu
scripts would make foIgr.,volumes of five hundred pages
1each, and that th~ of photolithogra~hing them
441
66. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
would be $17,000 in gold. The committee immediately
launched the enterpriSé, and in 1869 and 1870 ten large
J folio volumes were produced, more than haif of the
contents consisting of scientific documents. It is said
that when they were distributed in the great liorari;s
of the world astonishmentWas produced in the rnrnds
of the Iibrariansatthe magmtUde ûIThe achievement.
It may have been the first suggestion of the generÏiÏ u~e
of pllOtolïthographing of manuscripts for the use of
. scholars ID differéi"It parts of th~ world engaged in
collaboration. With the publication of the tw,tli vol
1!,.me the work of photolithogr.aphîng"-came_to:ân eEd,
solely, it wouid seem, because of a lack of funds. In
addition to the ten volumes of manuscripts, Dr. Taiel
had superintended the photo!!thographing of the copy
( of Schmidius 's Latin Bible, which Swedenborg had ex
tensively annotated with marginal notes. -nr.-Tafei
accepted the pastorate of a church mLondon, where
he remained until his death. The manuscripts included
in the Tafel photolithographs were:
~IJ.l~ I)(pp. 206) contains "Miscellanea Physica
et Mineralogica, ex Annis 1715 ad 1722." This collec
tion consists of about forty of the papers from Sweden
borg's pen found with the writings of Ericus Benzelius
in the Library of the Cathedral_ at Linkop~g, where
the original manuscripts here copied are still pre
served. Like many of Swedenborg's scientific papers,
these are interspersed with drawings. rv olume if)
45
67. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
(pp. 444) includes "Mathematica et Principia Rerum
Naturaliurn." We have here two distinct works, the
first hundred pages being devoted to mathernatical dis
cussion. Both tre!!-tis~ were written between the years
1714 and 1720. (yolurne @(pp. 196) contains "Itin
eraria et Philosophica." Besides the travel notes of
1733 and 1734 there ::lIe fourteen papers on widely di
vergent subjects. (Volume IV) (pp. 458) is called
"Transactionurn de Cerebro Fragmenta." CY olurne V
(pp. 627) has the title "Regnurn Animale." It is the
fifth part of his great work with this title, and treats
of the brain, the rnedulla oblongata, etc. (Y~e W
(pp. 358) contains "Miscellanea Anatornica et Phil
osophica, " together with indices of sorne scientific
writings. CY~I~~VIÎ)(pp. 114) is "Opusculurn de
Cultu et Amore Dei." This contains photolithographs
of the proofsheets as weIl as the unset rnanuscript
pages of the third part of the work on "The Worship
and Love of God," the volume swede~e.fi un;
)0 published although partly }>rinted. olurne VIII
(pp. 313) contains "Miscellanea TheologICa;-'llnd {;
the first of the volumes photolithographed belonging to
the distinctly theological series of Swedenborg's writ
ings. Among others, it includes such important works
as "The Doctrine of Charity," the posthumous
"Divine_Love" and "Divine vVisdorn," and indiëëSto
his prepaIatorYJ!l~U~riPLf.O~ is work on "ConjugraI
h
Love." W olurne l (pp. 580) contains the firs! of the
46
68. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG .MANUSCRIPTS
two codices of the manuscript of "Apocalypsis Ex-
licata" that Swedenborg copied for the pnnter,but
@
which was never sent to press in !!,is lifetime, being
_ in 1785 in London by Robert Hindmarsh. Vol-
A ~(PP.164) is th1Lflecond codex of the same manu-
SCript. It was printed in London by Robert Hind-
marsh in 1786.
The ten volumes aIl give the information on the tiUe-
pages that the_'York was jon~ by_or<!~r of a committee
of the New Church in North America and England.
They carry the imprint: "Holmiae: Ex Officina Soci-
etatis Photolithographicae." Volumes l, V, an<LTI
are dated l8,69, and aIl the others 1§.1D. One hundred
l and ten copies of eacli volume_wereprinte<Ï, the"proof-
sheets bein~preserved in the Library of the Sweden-
~
borg Society in London. The set in the ~York
Reference Library bears the dedicatory inscription:
"Presented b)': Hon. John Bigelow to the New York
Public Ljbrary, 10 _Y:9l,mnes, Jan. 26, 1898."
Beginmng of the IPho~typed.-.J
Series of the Marùiiéripts.
Monument to Dr. Tafel 's industry though these ten
volumes were, three-fourths-- the Swedenborg manu-
..,
of ----~-- ._-
scripts were still unreproduced. Twenty years of in-
effe~tual' disc~sslon, if not of-inaction, foIlowed, when
in September, 1890, the Rev. Samuel Worcester, of
47
69. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
Bridgewater, Mass., who had labored for many years
in the editing of Latin republications of Swedenborg's
works, addressed a strong memorial to the General
Convention's commfUee on the -Swedëiiliorg manu
scr!I>!s, in which he made a very accurate statement of
the problems confronting the committee and urged a
~~rg~nization of the fo~s interested in th; p~;;J)
ervation of the manuscripts in order to carry the work
of reproduction to a conclusion.
The letters exchanged by the members of this com
mittee in this and the immediately following years re
veal the multiplicity of details and difficulties, the cross
currents and hitches in getting different factors to
agree on the course to be pursued and the men and
methods to be employed in the actual work. Moreover,
Dr. Tafel's editorial energy had carried him to certain
lengths in retouching and even supplying verbal gaps . .
in the manuscripts in process ~f_JlhotolithograpJu~~.
All the co-operators in the new venture concur in the
'determination that the remaining work should be done
1
lwithout any atteII!pt to resfOrelegibiÎity. Blots and
erasures were to be left as they were found.
~ 1 In the meantime the.. . Ji.rLof .
- reproduction of manu
~._--- ...
scripts had undergone a ch.@ge; g~atine plates had re-
placed the cumbersome and expensive stone slabs of
the photolithographie method and the labor had been /
greatly lightened. In 1893 the Academy of the New
Church in America pu?lish~È .!!...phototyped manuscript
48
70. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
, of _t'Yenty-fiv~ag~s, "Summaria Expositio Sensus
Interni Prophetieorum ae Psalmorum," the original
text of a little work by Swedenborg, posthumously
published and known to English readers as " The
Prophets and Psalms." This. specimen of phototyping
was exhibited in various assemblies of those interested
as a mooeapplicable to the preservation of the ~weden
borg manuscripts, and no doubt ha.d sorne edueative
) and stimulative effect in paving the way to a serious
( re~umption of the work of preserving the manuseripts
as a whûle. In fairness, however, it ought to be said
that the apparent lapses of energy in eontinuing the
work on the manuscripts were not eaused by any real
indifference, but the active supporters of this proposed
( achievement were also the main participants in other
) forms of publication. There w~r.e newJ,;atin and Eng
lish editions issuing, a vo~~~e to t~
l ~gs of Swedenbo~g in pro~ss of composition,
and other projects demanding zeal, energy, and funds.
r----' In 1901 announceple-nt is II.Lade that the reproduction
is eompleted of th~ first volupe)of the edition of photo
types, and the bound and title-paged book is distributed
to subscribers in 1902. This was the first of the three
volumes of "The Spiritual Diary." The general title
( is: "Emanuelis Swedenborgii Memorabilia seu Dia
rium Spirituale"-ab Anno 1747 ad 1765. It has two
title-pages, one in Latin, the other in English, advising
that the work was dOI;le by direction of the _Ge.~l
49
71. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
( Convention ofthe New J~rusalem~d the A~w~_~f
, thêNêW Church, both of North America, witlithe co
' OP~I~~i()E._~fjh~ ~_w_e_d~I!..~org So~iety_î_'_L_o_~_d_o;' The
n
title-pages carry the imprint: "Holmiae: Ex Officina
j Lithographiae vVarner Silfversparre. 1901." The vol
ume contains 5~ -gaB.-es.
Sorne years be ore a number of students in America
formed the Swedenborg Scientific Association, and this
society seems"'to have been very active from the first
in fostering interest in the preservation and distribu
tion of the Swedenborg manuscripts. Report was cur
f rent that in places the legibility of the documents was
diminishing through the fading of the ink, and the con
1 viction grew that it was high time to carry to comple
tion the work of their reproduction. One of the mem
bers of the Scientific Association, Alfred H. Stroh, had
( developed great facility in reading and construing
Swedenborg's text in the original documents, and
knowing the urgent need of the right kind of man for
( the~ork, theAssociation formed the plan of sending
~ Mr. Stroh to Sweden to copy certain manuscripts of
scientific and philosophical value. He was also ~
ga~ to superintend_ th~ pQQt.Qtyping of the uncom
pleted parts of "The Spiritual Diary." His original
mission to Stockholm is thus described by Mr. Stroh
himself in 1906:
In June, 1902, Mr. C. Hj. Asplundh, then Treasurer of the
Academy, Treasurer of the Swedenborg Scientific Association,
_-00
72. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
and agent of both Academy and Comrention_~!!_theiren!~!prise 5l.!
p~t.Qtyping the "Diarium Spirituale," sent me to Europe to
attend to various matters in- cannection with the phototyping, the
copying of various scientific manuscripts by Swedenborg for the
Association, and to make iDquiries concerning books for the
Academy. '
Mr. Stroh's mission proved so interesting and fruit
fuI that his first visit was prolonged to the August of
the next year. It seems that it was in this period that
) he ~quired his remarkable collection of origina~cu
ments, disc.Qv~re.<l a Jlumber of interesting pictures,
8'.!!thered much valuaRl~ p.ew information, and made
purchases of various objects of souvenir value subse
quently turned over to the Library of the Academy of
the New Church and to the archives of the Swedenborg
•
Scientific Association in Bryn Athyn. He was mainly
employed, however, on the phototyping of the "Dia
rium Spirituale," the~ volum~of which, con
sisting of 55~es, and th~ïrdVOï1i"m3,)of69!. pages,
were both completed and puolished in 1905. The im
print on the title-page had been changed to : "Holmiae:
Ex Officina Lithographiae Lagrelius & Westphal."
These volumes of the "Diar~m ~pirituale," making
l)
. ~rsÛhr!e volunl~ of the projected edition of, )0
Swedenborg's "Autographa," were distr!!>uj;edjn ~! 1
amon",g.-a-..sclecle.d-m:u:uber of universitj: and public
braries in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Russia, Ger- 1
li-II
many, Austria, Ital~, E~glanJ1 S-yotland,.lr_eland, Hol- .
land, France, and the United States.
-=---51
73. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
When Mr. S.!!:Qh took Up his work in Stockholm he
vas warmly supported by the counsel and friendship
of Professor Gustav Retzius, who was at that time
President of the Royal Swedish Academy Qi Sciences.
Many years earlier Dr. Retzi~s's father had called the
at~ention of the scientific world to the present-day
value of Swedenborg's scientific works, and the so~s
interest was also lively in aU that pedained to Sweden
borg's literary legacy. While Mr. Stroh was carrying
on in the Library of the Academy his work of transcrip
-
tion of Swedenborg's manuscripts, Dr. Retzius re·
ceived, as President of the Academy of Sciences, a
communication from Dr. Max Neuburger of Vienna,
expressing profound regret that Swedenborg's work qn
the Brain still remained u~p'ublished. Perhaps directly
stimulated by this communication, certainly shortly
after ME: Stroh began his work in Stockholm, ~e
Royal Swedish Academy of S~~nces, in December,
1902, appointed a committee of its own, containing
several able men of science and known as the Sweden
borg Co~mittee, for the purp()se oJ ma~ing a frèsh
and thorough, study and investigation of Swedenborg's
scientific writings and of miscellaneous Swedenbor
1 glana. Professor Retzius was a man of sorne means,
and he and his wife formed the idea oLpublishing an
1 edition of Swedenborg's scientific works, includini aU
those remaining in manuscript. Mr. Stroh's profi.
52
74. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
ciency and enthusiasm seemed tO~II!.j!l~ovided
instrument for the realization of this desire as weIl as
- --
adequate qualification for carrying out any other plans
the newly appointed committee might have in mind.
Mr. Stroh writes of his engagement: "1 ~m also editing
the scientific works of Swedenborg by appointment of
r the SwedeIiborg Committee of the Royal Swedish Acad-
emy of Sciences in 1903." He became editor of the
proposed edition, and@ëënOble volumes were 1SSUë" ~
in due course under his drnctionand care. This activ-
ity in startingo the publi~ation of t~e sci~ntific~rks
had wide influence in focusing attention on the Ull-
finished task of reproducing Swedenborg's manuscripts
{
in tlieir totality.
Another incident of world-wide notice accentuated
the advisability of perpetuating aIl the products that
remained of Swedenborg's inteIlectual labors. When
( Swedenborg died, in 1772,. his. body was embalmed and
) interred in the Swedish Church in the Minories, Lon-
)Id~.·- In i907 it was decided· th;t th;" ch~r~ should
~jb~Jorn down, and at the suggestion of the Royal Swe-
dish Academy of Sciences the Swedish Government,
~th the concurrence of the British Government, sent
the Swedish cruiser Fylgia to London to carry aIl the
- --
material remains of Swedenborg to Sweden, where ~e
-
ashes were received with royal pomp and ceremony and
--
(
--
interred in the Cathedral at U!!..sala. Subsequently by
sa - ~
75. THE STORY OF THE SWEDENBORG MANUSCRIPTS
vote of the Swedish Parliament a mausoleum was
erectea: _in_the-Cathedral anCfWaSdedicated in Novem
ber, 1910.
The general desire of those interested to complete
the work of preserving the manuscripts came to a prac
tical head in 1910, at th~Inte.rnational Congress in
London of the members and friends of the Swedenborg
Society. The occasion was the on~JlUndredth~n~r
sary of the foundation of the Society, which had oc
curred February 26, 1810. Among those attending the
Congress were emin'ëiif scientific men from various
countries, who were solicitous for the continuance of
( the publication of Swedenborg's works of a scientific
character, as well as representative men fr~ral
({ continents who were anxious for the reproduction of
all the remaining manuscripts on theological subjects.
Before the Congress was dispersed members ~ious
bodies in England and America came together in an
( (agreement to combine their energies and resources in
an attempt once for all to achieve- the reproduction of
all the known theological manuscripts of Swedenborg,
and a contract was made the fQllowing ..nar for-the
carrying out of this plan. M.I:...Stroh was employed to
edlt the manuscripts and supervise their reproduction.
AIready a considerable part of the labor had been
llCcomplished on the second work to be included in the
phototyped autograph edition, the "Index Biblicus."
This labor had been carried on by the Swedenborg
54