In 1759, Peter Forsskål published a pamphlet, printed by Lars Salvius, calling for civil liberties. The publication, called ”Thoughts on Civil Liberty”, was immediately banned and those who were found to have a copy in their home had to pay a fine.
Nevertheless, the text did circulate and contributed to the freedom of the printing press which was established in 1766 in Sweden. Forsskål’s pamphlet is now published for the very first time in an English translation (as well as other languages), together with the original version of the Swedish text, without the censor’s changes.
A list of the location of surviving copies of the first edition of Thoughts on Civil Liberty (Tankar om borgerliga friheten) and a list of modern editions and translations is maintained by David Shaw