Norwegian Exlibris © 2025 by Annika Rockenberger is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
I scanned the 1978 list of works of Albert Jærn (entry in VIAF) (20 EXLIBRIS af tegneren, maleren og grafikeren ALBERT JÆRN. Ed. by Thor Bjørn Schyberg. Exlibristen: Frederikstad 1978). The exlibris œvre, collected and with a short biographical introduction by Thorbjørn Schyberg (entry in VIAF) was published with Exlibristen(entry in GND) THE publisher for German and Northern European exlibris literature in the 2nd half of the 20th century. It's a short booklet, listing 477 exlibris by Albert Jærn for mainly Norwegian owners. It's not out of copyright, since Schyberg only died in 1992. I guess I could ask Klaus Rödel, who owns Exlibristen publishing house, for reprint rights. No hurry though. The booklet was published in a limited edition of 150 copies, whereof I have nr. 109. It's part of the exlibris collection by Rolf Nysted Heier (1901-1992) (entry in HistReg) which I bought from his eldest son in 2024. The booklet has a handwritten dedication by Schyberg to Heier, which reads "Til Rolf Nysted Heier Th. Schyberg". I assume, this means this copy of the booklet was a gift from Schyberg to his former colleague and life-long exlibris friend Heier.
Why did I scan the booklet? Firstly, bc. I will eventually digitise the entire Nysted Heier collection and my addenda to it. Once my research project is done and I am ready to part with the collection, it will be donated to the University Library of Oslo and enter their catalogue for special collections. The other reason is that I create a database of Norwegian exlibris, which combines a description of each exlibris according to the FISAE criteria; a classification of the image contents, i.e. its iconography, using the ICONCLASS ontology, and an image search/recognition algorithm for identification of exlibris where other information is lacking or insufficient. Call it a research tool for provenience – and exlibris collectors. There are 20 original exlibris by Albert Jærn in the booklet, showing a variety of styles he used in creating the many bookplates during his rather short life.
The main, reason, though, is that I think I have found a hithertho unknown Albert Jærn exlibris. A friend of mine gave me a book a couple of weeks ago which they wanted to part with. It has an exlibris glued in, a rather small one, but with two color print (blue and black ink). It is likely a cliché - could also be a relief print? I have not been able to identify it in any of the Albert Jærn lists of works, it bears, however, his signature: ♂. I will do some more research on the owner, O. Sandaa, and I think I am on the right track. Once I have a solid lead, I'll post about it.
What else can I add? I guess that Albert Jærn must be if not THE, at least one of the most prolific and productive exlibris creators in Norway. During his rather short life, he created a large amount of exlibris - while his daily bread was working as an illustrator for several Norwegian publishing houses (Aschehoug being one of them) and advertisement companies. His illustrations were drawings (ink), but he seemed to have enjoyed using woodcuts and linocuts as a medium of artistic expression, too. Most notably perhaps is his "diary", published shortly after the end of the Nazi-German occupation of Norway in spring 1945. The book, called "Og så kom befrierne" (And so arrived the liberators), combines short diary-style notes and expressive woodcuts with which Jærn tells his personal story of the years of war and occupation. Though not a rarity (you can still get the book in several antiquarian bookshops in Northern Europe, it was printed in a limited run. There exists a bibliophile edition (the actual first edition), which I do not have, but seems to be in the collection of the Guttormsen Archive, since they used it in an art exhibition event recently. I have a copy in near mint condition which I recently found on Norway's version of Ebay, finn.no. It will get digitised eventually, too.
Today's log:
Norwegian Exlibris © 2025 by Annika Rockenberger is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International