Swedenborg Documents

ACSD - Academy Collection of Swedenborg Documents - "Green Books"

Php Resources

Volume V 559-689.12 Dated 1734(July)-1742
Volume VI 690-837.12 Dated 1742-1761(Feb)
Volume VII 838-1129 Dated 1761(Feb)-1769(Dec)
Volume VIII 1130-1399 Dated 1769(Dec)-1770(Dec)
Volume IX 1400-1615.13 Dated 1770(Dec)-1773(Sept)
Volume X 1616-1679 Dated 1773(Sept)-1905

Html Resources

Appendix Biographical and Historical Miscellaneous
Volume I Nos. .00-169 Dated 1642-1718
Volume II 170-369 Dated 1718(Dec)-1724(July)
Volume III 370-467.20 Dated 1724(July)-1727(April)
Volume IV 468-558.16 Dated 1727(May)-1739(July)
Volume V 559-689.12 Dated 1734(July)-1742
Volume VI 690-837.12 Dated 1742-1761(Feb)
Volume VII 838-1129 Dated 1761(Feb)-1769(Dec)
Volume VIII 1130-1399 Dated 1769(Dec)-1770(Dec)
Volume IX 1400-1615.13 Dated 1770(Dec)-1773(Sept)
Volume X 1616-1679 Dated 1773(Sept)-1905
Genealogy Charts Genealogy of the Swedenborg Family (in PDF format, 3,630 KB, require Acrobat Reader)
Notice of Swedenborg's birth in the Stockholm City Records (in PDF format, 3,157 KB, require Acrobat Reader)

Volume I begins with a family genealogical document dated 1642, some 46 years before Swedenborg's birth, and covers data up through 1718.
Volume II through IX minutely follow details of Swedenborg's life, up to and indicating his death in 1772.
Volume X comprises documents dated from September 1773 to 1905.
There is also a large Appendix volume, subdivided as follows:
I. Bibliographical Miscellanies and Notes (Hyde, Stroh, Tafel).
II. Biographical and Historical Miscellanies.
III. Swedenborg Genealogies, Property and Portraits, and Notes (Stroh).
IV. Duplicates.
V. Documents with no direct reference to Swedenborg.

The brief history of "Green Books"
"This collection, emanating from the work begun by Mr. Afred H. Stroh and Mrs. Cyriel O. Sigstedt, consists of all the known documents, letters, memorials, etc., relating to the life of Emanuel Swedenborg, arranged in chronological order, stating the original source, and indicating the existence of a photostat of such document if one exists..." Beryl G. Briscoe, New Philosophy, April 1967.

This extensive collection of looseleaf record books (11 volumes) in large green binders a.k.a. "Green Books," contains not only transcriptions of original documents, but often their translations as well. These documents were the basis for Alfred Acton's work, The Life of Emanuel Swedenborg, a Study of the Documentary Sources of His Biography, Covering the Period of His Preparation, 1688-1744. Up until his death in 1956, Dr. Alfred Acton continued the work of collecting the documents began by Alfred Stroh and Cyriel Sigstedt, with the aid of Beryl Briscoe who typed the thousands of pages of documents. Later, then Curator of Swedenborgiana, Mr. Lennart O. Alfelt, assisted with many Swedish documents. The "Green Books" have been microfilmed and microfilm copies do exist at the Swedenborg Society, London and at the Swedenborg School of Religion Library (now part of the Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, California). The only hard copy is at the Swedenborg Library. These transcriptions of Swedenborg documents are an important source for scholars, as some of the original documents no longer exist. One scholar traveled from Sweden to consult the "Green Books" and it's collection of Nordenski?documents, as the original Nordenski? papers had been destroyed in a fire.

Realizing the importance to preserve and make this collection more accessible to scholars, Library Director, Carroll Odhner initiated the scanning of the documents in the summer of 1997 by obtaining support of a private donor. Subsequent grants were obtained from the Carpenter Fund 1998-2000, to complete the scanning. M.A.R.S. student, Lenka Machova was hired to start the scanning in the summer of 1997. The following year, Lilia Odhner was hired to manage the project and supervise the scanning by college students (Taras Tkachov, Nils Odhner, Claudia Paes, Ryan Sandstrom, and Normandy Alden). Now completed this important set of documents will support the future publication of scholarly editions of Swedenborg's works and collateral studies, providing access to sources, which can shed new light on his world.