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Manuscripts
The University Library's collections of manuscripts consists mainly of archives from individuals and associations including letters, diaries and manuscripts. You find manuscripts in the database Alvin, and in card catalogues and directories at the Humanities Library.
Find manuscripts in Alvin
Use the database Alvin to find parts of the Library's manuscripts. Search for personal name, archive or organisation. Search for letters by sender (author) or recipient, or a combination of both.
What is Alvin?
Alvin is a platform for long term preservation of cultural heritage material. The platform contains both digitised material that you can read in its entirety, and references to material located in various cultural heritage institutions in Sweden.
Find manuscripts in directories and card catalogues
A large part of the Library's manuscripts is registered in manual directories and card catalogues at the Humanities Library. Other parts of the material are not listed at all. Fill in the contact form below and describe what you are looking for, and we will be happy to help you.
Request manuscripts
When you have found a reference to a manuscript in Alvin or in some other source, you can make a request to have the manuscript brought to the special reading room at the Humanities Library. Some of the manuscripts can not be requested, due to restrictions of use for some archival material.
Note that the manuscripts are mainly to be used for scholarly studies and research purposes.
About the Library's manuscripts
The Library's manuscript collections have been built since the 1860s. The KvinnSam archive was founded as a private initiative in 1958 and has since 1971 been a part of the University Library. KvinnSam and the Manuscript Department are responsible for the Library's manuscripts. The collections are located at the Humanities Library.
The collections' content
The manuscript collections mainly contain archives from individuals and associations. The archives contain, among other things, letters, diaries and manuscripts. The Manuscript Department holds around 400 archives of individuals from the 1800s and the 1900s. You can find archives of authors, artists, and opinion formers, as well as material from teachers and researchers at the university. Most of the archives have a connection to West Sweden.
KvinnSam's archive contains around 250 archives of individuals and associations. KvinnSam's manuscripts are mostly from the first half of the 1900s, from the time of the suffrage movement and forward. The archives contain letters, diaries, and manuscripts collected by and about individual women. You can also find records, accounts, and annual reports from women's societies and associations.
A selection of the archives of individuals in our collections
About KvinnSam's archive
Contact us about manuscripts
Contact us if you need any help or have questions about manuscripts.
Phone and email
Visiting address
Humanistiska biblioteket
Renströmsgatan 4
405 30 Göteborg