Paine's Rights of Man, Swedenborgianism and freedom of the press in Sweden: a publishing enigma of 1792

Abstract

• A copy of the earliest Swedish translation of Thomas Paine's Rights of Man, recently acquired by the British Library, illustrates the old tag that 'books have their fates'. The item is a slim octavo volume in plain grey board covers entitled Menniskans rattigheter and bearing the imprint Stockholm, tryckte hos Controlleuren C. G. Cronland, den 11 Julii 1792. The text is an abridged version of part one of Paine's best-seller, first published in London in February 1791. The translator-adapter was the Finnish-born Swedenborgian publicist Carl Fredrik Nordenskiold (1756-1828).