Collection of Narrative from the Swedish Intelligencer, 1632

This small manuscript notebook contains material relating to the wars of the Swedish King, Gustavus Adolphus, in Germany 1630-1632, and to The Swedish discipline. It is narrative from the Swedish Intelligencer. Note that this volume is not a copy of the Swedish Intelligencer as described above, but narrative from the title.

In the seventeenth century, nearly all newspapers referred to their goal of offering 'intelligence, both foreign and domestic'. An 'intelligencer' was a news gatherer and newsmonger . One of the earliest general-circulation newspapers in England was the Mercurius Britannicus, published in 1641, and its Monday edition carried the alternative title The English Intelligencer. Another early paper was the Kingdoms Intelligencer published for two years beginning in 1661 by the English Parliament in opposition to the king. There were other publications called the German Intelligencer, the Swedish Intelligencer printed in 1632, and the Orange Intelligencer. The Swedish Intelligencer was perhaps the first real illustrated newspaper. In one issue it gave full accounts of the exploits of the Swedish King, Gustavus Adolphus (Gustaf II Adolf), and was illustrated with his portrait, a bird's eye view of the siege of Magdeburg, a plan showing how he and his army crossed the river Lech into Bavaria, and a plan or bird's eye view of the battle of Lutzen, where he was killed. The portrait, the siege of Magdeburg, and the battle of Lutzen were copper engravings, but the passage of the Lech was a woodcut. The content was derived from pamphlets, letters and reports from English officers and it also contained poems about the King. The earliest use of the English word 'plunder' from the German 'plundern' was in the Swedish Intelligencer. The newspaper appeared in four parts between 1632 and 1633 and after that it underwent title changes between 1633 and 1635.

Generally open for consultation to bona fide researchers, but please contact repository for details in advance.

The biographical/administrative history was compiled using various dictionaries and encyclopaedias including the Oxford English Dictionary and the Svensk uppslagsbok.

Compiled by Graeme D Eddie, Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections Division.

Important finding aids generally are: the alphabetical Index to Manuscripts held at Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections and Archives, consisting of typed slips in sheaf binders and to which additions were made until 1987; and the Index to Accessions Since 1987.

Check the local Indexes for details of any additions.

At shelfmark E.B. .9(4024)Swe. in Special Collections, copy of the The Swedish intelligencer: wherein, out of the truest and choysest informations, are the famous actions of that warlike Prince ... ; the times and places of every action being so sufficiently observed and described, that the reader may finde both truth and reason in it. Printed London, for Nath, Butter and Nicholas Bourne, 1632.