Among the five prizes provided for in Alfred Nobel"s will (1895), one was intended for the person who, in the literary field, had produced "the most outstanding work in an ideal direction". The Laureate should be determined by "the Academy in Stockholm", which was specified by the statutes of the Nobel Foundation to mean the Swedish Academy. These statutes defined literature as "not only belles-lettres, but also other writings which, by virtue of their form and style, possess literary value". At the same time, the restriction to works presented "during the preceding year" was softened: "older works" could be considered "if their significance has not become apparent until recently". It was also stated that candidates must be nominated in writing by those entitled to do so before 1 February each year. (来源：专业英语学习网站 http://www.EnglishCN.com)

A special regulation gave the right of nomination to members of the Swedish Academy and other academies, institutions and societies similar to it in constitution and purpose, and to university teachers of aesthetics, literature and history. An emendation in 1949 specified the category of teachers: "professors of literature and philology at universities and university colleges". The right to nominate was at the same time extended to previous Prize-winners and to "presidents of those societies of authors that are representative of the literary production in their respective countries". The statutes also provided for a Nobel Committee "to give their opinion in matter of the award of the prizes" and for a Nobel Institute with a library which was to contain a substantial collection of mainly modern literature.