Norway, Sweden and Denmark: Handbook for Travellers

Leipsig / London: Karl Baedeker, 1903. Eighth Edition Revised and Augmented. Hardcover. Good+. Wagner & Debes. 16mo. Pp. lxxxii, 486, 40. Illustrated with 37 maps, 22 plans and 3 panoramas, several in colors and/or folding out. Index, appendix: Sketch of Norwegian and Swedish Grammar with Vocabulary and List of Phrases. Publisher's textured red cloth over flexible boards, titles stamped in gilt on the cover and spine, blind stamped decorations, red and black silk bookmark ribbons, edges marbled, publisher's advertising on front endpapers, map index on back endpapers. Edges rubbed and bumped, with half-inch abrasion on spine edge; red bookmark ribbon detached but present; owner ink signature on front endpaper; light pencil annotations on rear endpapers. A presentable copy. The first version of this travel guide was published in 1879. By WWII, considerable use was made of Baedeker guides, their accuracy, per travel writer Eric Newby, was "made as if by spies for spies." In the spring of 1940, when hen Hitler decided to invade Norway, General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst was given 24 hours to outline his attack. His staff bought the most recent Baedeker on Norway, and sketched plans based on the volume's maps. Upon review, Hitler declared himself satisfied, if not impressed.

Carefully researched and frequently updated, with contributions from travelers, Baedeker's pocket guides were essential baggage for the savvy tourist. The thoroughness with which they describe a country now affords an informed glimpse of the place, the people and their customs at a specific time in history. The clear and beautiful lithographed maps, plans and panoramas created by the firm of Eduard Wagner & Ernst Debes were unequalled. Indispensable for researchers, a treat for armchair historians, and prized by collectors.

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