Nils Christian Tønsberg (7 December 1813 – 6 February 1897) was a Norwegian publisher and author. Christian Tønsberg became one of the larger Norwegian publishers and was best known for illustrated books about Norway.

Background

Nils Christian Tønsberg was born in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

, Norway. He was the son of a ship manager Johan Christian Tønsberg (1788-1830) and Anne Marie Dahl (1788-1837). From the age of 14 he was employed at the office of town clerk and justice secretary and worked as a secretary for several municipal commissions. In September 1834 he was assistant at the Recorder of Bergen. He enrolled in law studies at the

University of Christiania The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

graduating with the

cand.jur. Candidate of Law (Latin: ''candidatus/candidata juris/iuris'') is both a graduate law degree awarded to law students in the Nordic region as well as an academic status designation for advanced Law School students in German-speaking countries. ...

degree in 1845.

Career

Udvalgte norske Nationaldragter - no-nb digibok 2012022813001-5

Tønsberg was employed as clerk in the Treasury Department, working in the office of several Supreme Court lawyers. Tønsberg also served as consul for several countries:

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...

, Grand Duchy of

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label=Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin ...

, Colombia,

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. Additionally he managed estates, auction and estate sales. When the publishing company of Guldberg & Dzwonkowski was dissolved in 1844, Tønsberg assumed a large part of the publisher's legal literature. Tønsberg had met

Henrik Wergeland Henrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland (17 June 1808 – 12 July 1845) was a Norwegian writer, most celebrated for his poetry but also a prolific playwright, polemicist, historian, and linguist. He is often described as a leading pioneer in the develop ...

in Bergen in 1832 and later became one of the writer's best friends and his main support. He arranged to published ''Hasselnødder'' in 1845. At the time of Wergeland's death the following year, he was asked to manage his estate and take care of the widow. He also published works of

Andreas Munch Andreas Munch (19 October 1811 – 27 June 1884) was a Norwegian poet, novelist, playwright and newspaper editor. He was the first person to be granted a poet's pension by the Parliament of Norway. Personal life Munch was born in Christiania, as s ...

, Mauritz Hansen,

Magnus Brostrup Landstad Magnus Brostrup Landstad (7 October 1802 – 8 October 1880) was a Norwegian parish priest and provost, hymn writer, and poet who published the first collection of authentic Norwegian traditional ballads in 1853. Biography Landstad was born in ...

Rudolf Keyser Rudolf Keyser (1 January 1803 – 9 October 1864) was a Norwegian historian, archaeologist and educator. Biography Jakob Rudolf Keyser was born in Christiania, now Oslo, Norway. He was the son of Bishop Johan Michael Keyser ( 1749–1810) an ...

, Nicolay Nicolaysen and

Ludvig Daae Ludvig Daae may refer to: * Ludvig Daae (priest) (1723–1786), Norwegian priest and landowner *Ludvig Kristensen Daa (1809–1877), Norwegian historian and politician *Ludvig Daae (politician) (1829–1893), Norwegian politician *Ludvig Ludvigsen ...

among others. He was among the founders of the

Norwegian Booksellers Association The Norwegian Booksellers Association ( no, Den norske Bokhandlerforening) is a Norwegian interest group. Its purpose is "looking after the interests of the booksellers and working to strengthen the position of literature and books in society". It ...

in 1851. Tønsberg became strongly influenced by the National Romantic period and was eager to establish a co-operation between the different art forms. The illustrations were drawn by some of the most famous of Norwegian artists including

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (15 January 18125 January 1885) was a Norwegian writer and scholar. He and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe were collectors of Norwegian folklore. They were so closely united in their lives' work that their folk tale collection ...

among others. Tønsberg continued publishing similar books over the next years. He gathered and published the material in ''Norge fremstillet i Tegninger'' with Asbjørnsen in 1848. Tønsberg also published ''Bondeliv i Norge'' by

Peter Andreas Munch Peter Andreas Munch (15 December 1810 – 25 May 1863), usually known as P. A. Munch, was a Norwegian historian, known for his work on the medieval history of Norway. Munch's scholarship included Norwegian archaeology, geography, ethnography, ...

and illustrated by

Adolph Tidemand Adolph Tidemand (14 August 18148 August 1876) was a noted Norwegian romantic nationalism painter. Among his best known paintings are ''Haugianerne'' (''The Haugeans''; 1852) and '' Brudeferd i Hardanger'' (''The Bridal Procession in Hardanger''; ...

and ''Udvalgte Norske Nationaldragter'' illustrated by

Johan Fredrik Eckersberg Johan Fredrik Eckersberg (16 June 1822 – 13 July 1870) was a Norwegian painter most noted for his landscapes. Eckersberg was a prominent figure in the transition from Romanticism to Realism in 19th-century Norwegian art, both as an artistic p ...

in 1861. Tønsberg continued with a limited publishing until 1891, by which time he was almost blind. Egil Tveterås
''Christian Tønsberg – forlegger''
Norsk biografisk leksikon

Personal life

In 1835, he married Maren Dorthea Bødtker (1813-1893). He died 1897 in during Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway.

Selected works

*
Norge fremstillet i Tegninger
' (1848) * ''Christiania og Omegn'' (1850) *
Norske Nationaldragter
' (1852) * ''Berømte Nordmænd'' (1853–56) * ''Norske Folkelivsbilleder'' (1854) * ''Bondeliv i Norge'' (1861) * ''Udvalgte norske Nationaldragter'' (1861) * ''Norske Kunstner-Album'' (1873) * ''Billeder af Norges Natur og Folkeliv'' (1875) * ''Norsk Portræt-Galleri'' (1877) * ''En Brudefærd i Hardanger'' (1879)

Picture from ''Norge fremstillet i Tegninger''

Image:Norge005Bergen.jpg, ''Bergen''

Johan Christian Clausen Dahl Johan Christian Claussen Dahl (24 February 178814 October 1857), often known as or , was a Danish-Norwegian artist who is considered the first great romantic painter in Norway, the founder of the "golden age" of Norwegian painting, and, by some ...

Image:Norge072Joachim Christian Geelmuyden GyldenkrantzFrichPartiFraNorangfjordISøndmør.jpg, ''Nordangfjorden''

Joachim Frich Joachim Christian Geelmuyden Gyldenkrantz Frich (24 July 1810 - 29 January 1858) was a Norwegian landscape painter. He was associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting (''Düsseldorf-skolen''). Biography Joachim Frich was from Bergen, Norw ...

File:Norske Folkelivsbilleder 04 - Tömmerkjörsel og Mærkning (Johan Fredrik Eckersberg).jpg, ''Bære og merking av polene''

File:G. Saal Parti af Moldefjord.jpg, ''Parti af Moldefjord''

Georg Saal Georg Eduard Otto Saal (11 March 1817, Koblenz - 3 October 1870, Baden-Baden) was a German painter; known primarily for his landscapes of Norway, although he worked in a wide variety of genres. Biography His father was a clerk for the city ...

File:Norske Folkelivsbilleder 08 - En Aften ved Sæteren (Knud Bergslien).jpg, ''En Aften ved Sæteren''

Knud Bergslien Knud Larsen Bergslien (15 May 1827 – 27 November 1908) was a Norwegian painter, art teacher and master artist. In his art, he frequently portrayed the lives of the Norwegian people, their history and heroes of the past. Bergslien is most associ ...

File:Norske Folkelivsbilleder 03 - Hjemreisen fra Kirken (Adolph Tidemand).jpg, ''Hjemreisen fra Kirken''

References

External links

''Norge fremstillet i Tegninger''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toensberg, Christian 1813 births 1897 deaths Businesspeople from Bergen University of Oslo alumni Norwegian booksellers Norwegian book publishers (people) Norwegian topographers Norwegian non-fiction writers 19th-century Norwegian writers