Ur-Pippi [The proto-Pippi] (review)

'Skrifter utgivna av Svenska Barnboksinstitutet' [Publications of the Swedish Institute for Children's Books] is the oldest Swedish series dedicated to the study of children's literature. Since 1971, it has been featuring monographs and PhD dissertations by some of the leading scholars in the field. The series covers a lot of ground. It concentrates on Swedish children's literature from the early beginnings to the present day with a special emphasis on the work of Astrid Lindgren, but it also includes several volumes on literature from other national traditions. Göte Klingberg, the doyen of Swedish children's book research, for example, authored two books in the series on one of his favourite topics, namely British children's books and picturebooks. The series also explores many other themes and topics, including one volume on young adult literature in the German Democratic Republic, several titles on Hans Christian Andersen, Heinrich Hoffmann and Ernst Kreidolf, and even a study on the Tarzan novels.

This 94th volume, an annotated edition of the prototype of Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Långstrump, brings the series particular acclaim, uncovering as it does interesting primary material and advancing original scholarship. This Ur-Pippi was first published in 2007 on the centenary of Lindgren's birthday with an extensive and illuminating commentary by Ulla Lundqvist. To the delight of many Lindgren fans, the 'original manuscript' of Pippi is now available; to their regret, it is not a facsimile but merely a reprint edition. Only the endpapers grant a glimpse of the pages as originally typed.