Abstract
In this article I discuss a collection of books that belonged to Beata Charlotta (Charlotte) Ekerman (1758-1790), an actress at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm. Ekerman became the mistress of Prince Charles, brother of Gustav III. The prince dismissed her for another woman and she was suspected of infanticide and slander against the king. The governor of Stockholm, Carl Sparre, helped her to avoid the Spinning House, but she was exiled and lived in Paris between 1782 and 1786. In 1784 she travelled to Italy, where she had been invited by a Neapolitan duke. Thanks to Ekerman's letters to Sparre it is possible to follow her journey from the papal court in Rome to the royal court at Naples. She spent her last years in Stockholm, now mistress of the Dutch ambassador and accused of espionage. The aim of this article is to study the interrelation between the owner and her books, on the basis of a list of Ekerman's books included in the estate inventory drawn up after her death. A selection of these books is discussed with particular regard to language and genre. The collection, described in the inventory as consisting mainly of theatrical pieces and French novels, turns out to have had a wider range, thus revealing its owner's ambition to transgress the stereotypical image of the eighteenth-century woman.
Highlights
Men hur förhöll det sig egentligen med romanerna? Stämmer det att Beata Charlotta Ekerman efterlämnade en boksamling som bestod av ”Åtskillige större delar i Theatre historien samt Fransyska Romaner”? Det var ju så boupptecknarna beskrev samlingen.[41]
In this article I discuss a collection of books that belonged to Beata Charlotta (Charlotte) Ekerman (1758−1790), an actress at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm
Ekerman became the mistress of Prince Charles, brother of Gustav III
Summary
Den 16 januari 1790 dog mademoiselle Beata Charlotta Ekerman i Stockholm, endast 31 år gammal.[1]. Till bouppteckningen fogades en lista där de böcker som varit i hennes ägo hade noterats.[3] Det var inte självklart att en sådan specificerad lista skulle upprättas. Charlottes yngre syster Catharina Juliana (kallad Julie) fanns 1785 som ”husjungfru” i överståthållaren Carl Sparres hushåll.[12] Hon hade redan som tonåring blivit ”omhändertagen” av Sparre, som efter sin hustrus död 1780 snart gjorde sig känd för ”en överdrifven böjelse till könet”.13. Hur den landsförvisade aktrisen Ekerman på egen hand tar sig fram genom Europa, knyter kontakter med Vatikanen och det neapolitanska hovet, hela tiden i skräck för att hennes verkliga identitet som svensk skådespelerska utan rekommendationsbrev skall avslöjas, är en gripande historia. När Charlotte Ekerman år 1786 äntligen fick tillåtelse att återvända till Sverige kunde hon föra med sig värdefulla tillhörigheter som hon lyckats samla på sig under sin vistelse i Frankrike.
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