Fredmans epistlar is a collection of 82 poems set to music by Carl Michael Bellman, a major figure in Swedish 18th century song. Though first published in 1790, it was created over a period of twenty years from 1768 onwards. A companion volume, Fredmans sånger was published the following year.
Frontispiece to the first edition by Johan Tobias Sergel, engraved by Johan Fredrik Martin
Bellman's artistry in the songs of Fredman's Epistles has been compared with William Hogarth's work as a painter, as here in Gin Lane, 1751.
Detail of watercolour by Johan Fredrik Martin of a scene reminiscent of Ulla Winblad's journey back from Lake Mälaren to Stockholm in Epistle No. 48, Solen glimmar blank och trind
Ep. 45: Mollberg is beaten, his harp broken in the Rostock tavern [sv]
Carl Michael Bellman was a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, poet, and entertainer. He is a central figure in the Swedish song tradition and remains a powerful influence in Swedish music, as well as in Scandinavian literature, to this day. He has been compared to Shakespeare, Beethoven, Mozart, and Hogarth, but his gift, using elegantly rococo classical references in comic contrast to sordid drinking and prostitution—at once regretted and celebrated in song—is unique.
Bellman playing the cittern, in a portrait by Per Krafft, 1779
Bellman's signature
Bellman's birthplace, the Stora Daurerska house in Södermalm, Stockholm. Carl Svante Hallbeck, 1861
Bellman by Elias Martin, 18th century