Peter Tidemand Malling (20 November 1807 – 19 April 1878) was a Norwegian bookseller, printer and publisher. Malling was a pioneer in the publishing industry around the middle of the 19th century.

Background

Peter Tidemand Malling was born in Strømsø (now part of

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Viken (county), Viken, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and village ...

) in

Buskerud Buskerud () is a former county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardan ...

County,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. His parents were Michael Malling (1776–1834) and Maren Elisabeth Klein (1777–1856). After schooling at Strømsø, Malling went to Drammen Latin School. Malling apprenticed with Carl F. Rode, the first book printer in Drammen. In 1827, he traveled to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, where his mother had family, and was employed by a larger printer. In 1829 he was employed as a factor for the printing-lithographic institution of Hans T. Winther in Christiania (now Oslo). From 1835-38, he was a factor at the publishing company of Guldberg & Dzwonkowski and led the printing of the illustrated ''Skilling-Magazin''.

Career

Starting from January 1838, he had his own company. He published practical guides, cooking and medical books and other non-profit literature. In 1840, he bought Louis Risum's printing shop and moved it to

Tønsberg Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative ce ...

. While Malling ran a print shop in Tønsberg, he continued his publishing business in Christiania. Dating to January 1839, he began to publish the newspaper, ''Dagbladet'', a journal for trade, shipping, industries and policies. Starting in 1841, he published a new newspaper, ''Tønsbergs Mercur''. From 1842, he operated his own printing press, under the name ''Det Mallingske Boktrykkeri''. For a number of years, Malling also printed for Norges Bank's banknote. In the 1860s he published both poetry collection ''Symra'' and Norwegian grammar for

Ivar Aasen Ivar Andreas Aasen (; 5 August 1813 – 23 September 1896) was a Norwegian philologist, lexicographer, playwright, and poet. He is best known for having assembled one of the two official written versions of the Norwegian language, Nynorsk, from va ...

. He had become acquainted with

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 ...

and published several of his writings. The first issue of ''Tønsbergs Mercur'' was opened with a poem by Wergeland, and the writer was the magazine's Christiania correspondent. In 1851, Malling helped found 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 ...

and later served as chair from 1870 to 1878. During 1873, the printing business was sold, but continued under the name ''Det Mallingske Bogtrykkeri''.Egil Tveterås.

References

Other sources

* Andersen, O. S. ''Bilder av bokhandelens historie gjennom hundre år'' (1950) * Jacobsen, G. ''Norske boktrykkere og trykkerier gjennom fire århundrer 1640–1940'' (1983) 1807 births 1878 deaths People from Drammen Norwegian booksellers Norwegian book publishers (people) Norwegian printers {{Norway-business-bio-stub