Lundell's parents were Anders Andersson and Carolina Olsdotter. He began his studies at Uppsala University in 1871 and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1876. In years 1880 - 1885, he worked as amanuensis at the Uppsala University Library.[1]
It was during the studies in Uppsala that his interest in Swedish dialects arose. He created Landsmålsalfabetet in 1878. In the same year, he founded the annual journal Svenska landsmål och svenskt folkliv ("Swedish Dialects and Folk Traditions"), which as of 2010 is still published. He was editor in chief of the journal for many years.
In 1892, Lundell founded Upsala Enskilda Läroverk, a private secondary school in Uppsala. Since 1960, when it was transformed into a public school, it has been known as Lundellska skolan ("The Lundell School").
^Assenova, Daniela (13–15 June 2008). "Glimpses from the Past – Early Studies in Bulgarian at Uppsala University". Bulgarian-American Dialogues / Bălgaro-amerikanski dialozi. Eight Joint Meeting of Bulgarian and North American Scholars. Sofia: Prof. Marin Drinov Academic Publishing House. pp. 24–34.
^Svenskt biografiskt lexikon. Stockholm. 1918. p. 100.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)