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Due to the 370th anniversary of public post system in nowadays Estonia and on the basis of the connection between communications and communication the Institute of History and Archaeology of Tartu University and the Academic History Society organise a conference on the history of communication in the Baltic Sea region in the 16th-19th centuries, in Tartu, September, 19-21:History of Communication in the Baltic Sea Region in the 17th-19th Centuries. Her comes the call for papers:

On February 20, 1636, the regency council of Queen Christina issued the first postal service regulations in Sweden. Two years later, on the initiative of chancellor Axel Oxenstierna public postal system was established and it connected Stockholm via Åland with Turku and Helsinki. From there official mail network was extended to Tallinn and Narva. 

The organizers invite you to present papers on the following example topics:

• Revolution of communication in Northern Europe at the beginning of the 17th century; the roots of early information society; communication as a ruling weapon; official (government) information delivery channels (Publikaten and Patenten)
• Different forms of communication: the proportion of oral and written communication and bureaucratization; political, economic and cultural communication in the 17-19th centuries; the role of communication in the interaction between the ruling elites and the subjects; rumors as means of communication in the village
• The emergence of newspapers and their role in information exchange; the censorship of information
• Emergence and development of public and private mail delivery systems; postal order in the Early Modern Age
• The development of road networks and infrastructure; logistics; cartography
• Traveling, travel accounts, travel guides, itineraries
• The role of private correspondence in information delivery.

The conference languages are English and German (talks as well as publications). There is no participation fee; your accommodation costs will be covered by organizers. The conference papers will be published.

The deadline for abstracts’ submission is May 31, 2008.