ABSTRACT
Available evidence suggests that the idea of producing a town directory came relatively late to Norway, with the first being published for Christiania in 1838. Given the earlier development of directories in Oslo compared with the rest of Norway it is appropriate that attention is focused on the evolution of directory content in that city. Historians of all types seem to have steered their attentions well away from any considerations of the town directory, and its development can only be pieced together by using the fragmented information contained in the directories themselves. Subsequent directories for Oslo were published in 1863, 1866 and 1871 by the same publishing company, Det forrige Lehmannske Bogtrykkeries Forlag. The main changes in the late nineteenth century to the city’s directories were an increasing elaboration of emphasis on administrative and more particularly commercial activities.
