| Summary: | Jón Halldórsson (1838–1919) was born at Neslönd by Lake Mývatn, North Iceland. He was a farm hand at Grenjaðarstaður and Stóruvellir, North Iceland, before he emigrated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1872. He settled in Nebraska in 1875 as a farmer. Jón Halldórsson died in Chicago in 1919. Jón Halldórsson had no formal education but he was an ardent reader. As a farm hand at the Grenjaðarstaður vicarage he had access to the pastor’s library. He also became a member of the local reading society. Furthermore he and his closest male friends formed a reading circle, borrowed books from bookish men in the neighbourhood, and ordered books from Copenhagen. The article deals with Halldórsson’s informal education, his and his reading circle, the subject of their readings and reading experience, based on information derived from their personal correspondence.
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