Advent Calendar: 13 December – Reindeer

Illustration of a reindeer from one the engraved plates in Johannes Schefferus’ Lapponia, a history of Northern Scandinavia and the Sami people. A noted Swedish humanist, Johannes Schefferus’ account of Northern Scandinavia is one of the first in depth studies of the history and geography of the region. The book focuses primarily on the Sami people, their customs, religion, education and medicine. The book was first published in late 1673 and closely followed by English, German, French and Dutch translations.

This image has been taken from the French translation of the book, Histoire de la Laponie, translated by Augustin Lubin and published in Paris in 1678 (r17 DL971.L2).