The Scoundrel Years: Scandinavian impudence of the press and print industry, c. 1760–1800

By a curious historical coincidence, the world’s first two government-sponsored declarations of freedom of the press were pronounced in Sweden 1766 and in Denmark 1770.

Although there seems to be no inspiration between the two experiences, they nevertheless make an excellent case for comparison.

While the political and intellectual environments were highly different, the immediate result of the declarations show striking similarities in both the production of prints and the intensity of public debate in a new public sphere.

The two cases make an important contribution to the debate on the Enlightenment and the birth of civil rights.We are well informed about the political and intellectual background in each country, but we know next to nothing about the production and content of the printed matter.

Authors did not write books or pamphlets – those were produced and disseminated in an information ecosystem of which we have only shallow knowledge.

Our project will analyse the working conditions of all parts of the communications circuit – authors, printers, publishers, shippers, sellers, consumers etc. – in both Sweden and Denmark.

We will look for similarities and differences between the topics discussed in both countries, relate them to individual actors, and trace networks within the print market and the political sphere.

The material conditions of the print market is a neglected but important field if we are to understand the birth and eventual success of press freedom.