Linnean collections at Uppsala University Library

This is a collection by the Linnean Foundation at Hammarby consisting of works that belonged to Linnaeus' own library. These books formed part of the collection that was at one stage sold by Linnaeus' widow to The Linnean Society in London. Some of the books, mainly about medicine, were returned to Sweden at the end of the 19th century on the grounds that they did not fit in subject-wise.

The collections also contains books by or about Carl Linnaeus that were donated to or otherwise acquired by Linnaeus' summer residence Hammarby in the early 20th century.

From Linnaeus' Hammarby there are also some engraved plates and wall paper fragments that are now kept at Carolina Rediviva.

• The Hammarby Collection in Libris
• Engravings and wallpaper fragments from Linnaeus' Hammarby
  

The manuscript collections contains notes from lectures held by CarI Linnaeus. Some of these are registered in Alvin – the platform for digital collections and digitised cultural heritage:

• Lecture notes from lectures held by Carl Linnaeus

Linnaeus' correspondence, spread over archival collections across the globe, is described and often digitised through the Linnaean Correspondence project. You find it in the database Alvin:

• Read more about the Linnean Correspondence project

Browse the Linnaean Correspondence

Parts of this correspondence are held at Uppsala University Library (links to the database Alvin):

• Letters to and from Linnaeus (shelfmark G 152a-i)
• Letters from Linnaeus to C.P. Thunberg (shelfmark G 300q fol.)
• Letters to, from and about Linnaeus, also testimonials etc. (shelfmark Waller Ms se-)

Most of the Linnean manuscripts are currently held at the Linnean Society of London, but of the material still remaining in Sweden, some is kept at Uppsala University Library.

• Praeludia sponsaliorum plantarum, 1729
• Dissertatio botanica de planta Sceptro Carolino, 1731
• Methodus Avium Sveticarum, 1731
• Flora Kofsöensis, 1731 (not autograph by Linné)
• Flora Lapponiae, probably 1732
• Flora Dalekarlica, 1734
• Pluto Svecicus, 1734
• Autobiography, also known as Vita III, ca 1750–1777
• Vade-Mecum, not dated
• Nemesis Divina, not dated
• Genera Morborum, not dated
• Hortus Uplandicus, 1731

Manuscripts from the Leufsta Collections

• Catalogus plantarum rariorum Scaniae, 1728
• Hortus Uplandicus, 1730
• Adonis Uplandicus, 1731

Linneana in the Waller Collections

Our Waller Collections contain unique digitised material from or about Carl Linnaeus, such as correspondence, notes and and certificates:

• Linneanus and Linneana in the Waller Collections

Microfilmed materials

Uppsala University Library holds a number of microfilms of unique Linnean manuscripts from Linnean Society of London. For more information and to request the materials, contact Ask the Library.

All Linnaeus' publications are to be found in Uppsala University Library, from the first edition of his seminal work Systema naturae 1735 to Nemesis Divina, which was published posthumously. We also have all the doctoral theses that were written under Linnaeus' supervision at Uppsala University. These are found together with printed literature about or with connection to Linnaeus in our Linnean Collection. A few capsules with printed Swedish ephemera in this collection can be found in Alvin.

• Linnean Collection in Libris
• Linnean Collection in Alvin

In the Alvin database you can find our portraits of Carl Linnaeus:

• Portraits of Carl von Linné in Uppsala University Library

The Swedish Linnaeus Society made a donation to the University Library in 2021, consisting of the Society’s archive, the Förberg Library, and a small number of books and manuscripts related to Carl Linnaeus or the Society itself. Most of these materials had already been deposited at the University Library for some time.

• Archive of the Swedish Linnaeus Society
• Linnean manuscripts in the Swedish Linnaeus Society Archive
• Förberg Library