The genealogy book that the National Library of Norway credits with being Norway’s first led the library to the Galápagos Islands and Darwin.
Although it may seem that fewer genealogy books are being written today than was the case in the 1990s, well over 100 new genealogy books are written every year.
However, this figure is based on what can be found in the country’s library catalogs, but many people create family books without being registered by any library. Many choose only to print a few copies for internal use and family enjoyment.
It is therefore impossible to know for certain whether what the National Library of Norway claims to be Norway’s first genealogical book really is Norway’s first and oldest genealogical book. However, it is the book that, according to official registers, can have this designation.
The book was published in 1863, written by Wilhelmine Brandt and titled«Stamtavle over familjerne Lossius og Brandt med flere i samme indgiftede slægter«
The book was the first in a series of several genealogy books that Wilhelmine Brandt wrote in the latter half of the 1800s and throughout the early 1900s.
The Norwegian behind Darwin
In the podcast «Gamle greier» from the National Library of Norway, Wilhelmine Brandt’s book is credited with being the first of its kind in Norway.
Read also: Exciting podcast from the National Library of Norway
The book also contains a number of letters from Nicolai Olaus Lossius, who is most likely the man Darwin met on the Galápagos Islands and who led Darwin to the theory of the origin of species.
The contents of the family book have therefore been an important source for the National Library in the attempt to identify Nicolai Olaus Lossius, referred to by Darwin as Lawson.
You can listen to The Norwegian Behind Darwin yourself via your podcast source or directly on the National Library’s website.
