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Hertha (novel)

1856 novel by Fredrika Bremer

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 22, 2026
Entity authorityQ18290601 ↗
Source-derived summary

Hertha, fully New Sketches of Everyday Life: Hertha, or, A Soul's History: A Sketch from Real Life (Swedish: Nya Teckningar ur Hvardagslifvet: Hertha, eller En själs historia: Teckning ur det verkliga livet) is a Swedish novel by Fredrika Bremer, first published in 1856.

History

The feminist writer Fredrika Bremer published Hertha in 1856. Unlike her other works, she labeled this one a Sketch of from Real Life: she concluded it with an appendix recounting actual Swedish court cases concerning her subject, an assault on the 2nd-class status of women under Sweden's 1734 Civil Code. By its terms, unmarried adult women (unless widowed or divorced) were considered incompetent wards of their male relatives. Bremer and her sister had themselves been required to petition King Charles XIV to emancipate themselves from their wastrel brother.

Legacy

Although Bremer herself soon left for a great journey through Europe and the Levant, her work prompted the Hertha Discussion (Herthadiskussionen) throughout Swedish society, reaching Parliament in 1858. There, the old system was reformed to allow women to petition their nearest courthouse (rather than the royal court) at the age of 25. Five years later, the legislation was revisited and all women were considered to automatically reach legal majority at 25. (The daughters of the Swedish nobility were, however, not able to marry without their father or brother's permission until 1880.) The novel also successfully raised the question of a "women's university". The Royal Seminary, a state school for the education of female teachers, was opened in 1861.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Hertha (novel)” as 1856 novel by Fredrika Bremer. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1856, 1734, 1858, 1880—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1856. The account is most persuasive where Hertha, novel and Fredrika can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1856 novel by Fredrika Bremer. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q18290601. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1856, 1734, 1858 and 1880.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Hertha (novel)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Hertha (novel) primary sources, Hertha (novel) archive and Hertha research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Hertha (novel)”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Hertha (novel)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.