Abstract

Alphabetically organized reference-works were diffused on the European book markets from the seventeenth century onwards. Soon writers and publicists in urban centres across the continent were engaged in compiling and translating dictionaries, followed by widespread discussions about the dangers and promises of the new genre. Compared to many other European countries, the so called ‘dictionary craze’ was less visible in northern Europe, where all early attempts to create large-scale universal encyclopaedias failed. For this reason, Sweden – and Scandinavia at large – has not attracted much attention in research on Enlightenment encyclopaedism, which tend to emphasize the major developments in France, England, and Germany. However, the absence of successful publications does not imply the absence of encyclopaedic practice. By studying stranded projects in eighteenth-century Scandinavia, we can gain new insights into the early circulation and geographical expansion of alphabetical encyclopedic practice.