Lapponica

Collection description

The Lapponica Collection contains source material for Sami research. It includes books and other printed matter, a total of 1,302 titles. The collection was started by Jakob Fellman, who worked as a priest in Utsjoki and Inari in the 1820s and 1830s. The collection's content is 'early Lapland and Lapps'; it provides materials for the use of historical research, folklore, linguistics and book history. The collection contains, among other materials, alphabet books, almanacs, bible translations and other religious literature, grammar books, dictionaries, fiction and poetry. The oldest work in the collection is Historia de gentibus septentrionalis by Olaus Magnus from year 1567.  In addition to the books, the collection includes a wide range of printed matters, such as political declarations, maps, legal texts and even playing cards intended for studying the bible.

In 1920, Julia Fellman donated the Lapponica Collection to the Finno-Ugrian Society, which in turn donated it to the National Library of Finland in 2009. The collection also included a small amount of manuscripts, which are in the National Archives of Finland.