H.N. Jacobsens Bókahandil is the oldest

bookshop Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The foundi ...

in the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

. It is also one of the oldest shops still in business in the

Faroes The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

today. The bookshop was established on St. Olafs day on 29 July 1865 by

bookbinder Bookbinding is the process of building a book, usually in codex format, from an ordered stack of paper sheets with one's hands and tools, or in modern publishing, by a series of automated processes. Firstly, one binds the sheets of papers alon ...

Hans Nicolai Jacobsen. He was the father of

Jakob Jakobsen Jakob Jakobsen (22 February 1864 — 15 August 1918) was a Faroe Islanders, Faroese linguist and scholar. The first Faroe Islander to earn a doctoral degree, his thesis on the Norn language of Shetland was a major contribution to its historical ...

(1864-1918), who is one of the most important Faroese

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

s. H. N. Jacobsen was one of the initiators of a public meeting in

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; ; Danish language, Danish: ''Thorshavn''), usually locally referred to as simply Havn, is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of th ...

in 1888, aiming at public support for “the protection and preservation of the

Faroese language Faroese ( ; ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language spoken as a first language by about 69,000 Faroe Islanders, of whom 21,000 reside mainly in Denmark and elsewhere. It is one of five languages descended from Old Norse#Old West ...

and

tradition A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...

s”, as the notice announcing the meeting said. This is considered as the official start of the Faroese National Movement. The original book shop was in the old main street "Gongin", but 1918 it was moved to the Market Square "Vaglið", at the start of Niels Finsens gøta, where it still stands today. With its characteristic Faroese grass roof and big maple trees in the foreground, it is a

landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern-day use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures ...

in Tórshavn. In addition, a section of H.N. Jacobsens Bókahandil operates an antiquarian bookshop.

External links

H. N. Jacobsens Bókahandil
Bookstores of the Faroe Islands Buildings and structures in the Faroe Islands Organizations established in 1865 {{faroes-stub