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‘His song would be of trade, and of trade he sang’. Dutch poems on trade 1770-1830.In the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic, the mercantile nation par excellence, poets often devoted some laudatory stanzas to trade and commerce, to Amsterdam as ‘the merchants’ capital’ or to individual merchants and their virtues. It is only from the second half of the eighteenth century onwards, however, that we find poems that take trade and commerce as their central theme. This article analyses around twelve of these poems dating from the last decades of the eighteenth and the first decades of the nineteenth century. These sometimes exceptionally long works sing the praise of trade as a historical phenomenon, dwelling on developments from primordial times up to their own age. In the nineteenth-century poems, trade even develops into a divine power, the primum movens and driving force in the history of human civilization. Two central themes of Enlightenment economics gain prominence here: the Universal Economy Doctrine and the idea of doux commerce. While it has often been stated that the Dutch were hardly interested in economics before the end of the nineteenth century, these poems demonstrate that, whereas purely academic discourse on economy was scarce indeed, contemporary international ideas on economy were in fact widespread in the Netherlands. In a popularized and poetic guise they could count on the lively interest of many.

Sinner of Sodom or Gods creature? Nineteenth-century homosexuals about their relationship with God.In the nineteenth century psychiatrists established the existence of the homosexual identity and developed theories about its causes and characteristics. An important source of information they used were autobiographies of so called urnings (homosexuals). Given the fact that today most Christians accept the existence of the homosexual identity, it seems that over time the developed medical discourse on homosexuality has been given a place within the discourse of the Christian faith. This article focuses on the first phase of this ‘processing’ of the medical discourse. By analyzing five autobiographies of nineteenth century urnings that were published in the Netherlands I discuss how the authors coped with the combination of their homosexual identity and their religion. All authors supply evidence of regarding themselves as innate homosexuals and, as such, as a creature of God. They show different views about the goal He has with their creation – an unknown one, a special favor or a punishment – but they are all convinced that they are no sinner in His eyes, even if they are sexually active. However, the biblical sin of Sodomy – anal penetration – is assessed negatively.

Read, but read in moderation. Opinions on reading in the first half of the nineteenth century.According to Marita Mathijsen before 1850 a reading revolution in The Netherlands was hold off because the spiritual authorities (pastors and priests) who controlled the public opinion turned against the enlightened liberal belief that literature, like all forms of knowledge, would lead to a better world. Only since the thirties reading would no longer be generally contested but tolerated (gedoogd). However, the term ‘gedogen’ (acquiescence) is only appropriate when speaking of an apparently ineradicable evil that was secretly tolerated. Until 1825 this was only the standard view in Catholic circles. Outside these circles reading was considered a legitimate human need, which was put at the disposal of the attainment of domestic happiness. With the notable exception of the young Da Costa and other orthodox Protestants in the twenties the Protestant public opinion in the first decades of the nineteenth century did not condemn reading in general. The watchword was not: Thou shalt not read, but: Read, but read in moderation. The ministers took their educational role seriously and fought against thoughtless reading, overmuch reading and the reading of the wrong books. The reading revolution hold off, but not for ideological reasons. The need existed, but the financial means lacked to fulfill the needs.

Multatuli as a writing and talking machine. On the early reception of the phonograph in the literature of the Low Countries.As late nineteenth-century culture saw itself transformed by the emergence of new media, celebrated Dutch writer Multatuli (1820-1887) too was radically reinventing himself. In 1877, he irrevocably shifted his activities from writing to public speaking. The formerly self-proclaimed ‘writing machine’ thus became a self-attested ‘talking machine’. Coincidentally, this metamorphosis took place at the time of his emotional encounter with an actual talking machine: Edison’s phonograph. Being the first device that could capture, store and replay sounds, this new medium posed a multi-pronged challenge to literature. International nineteenth-century literary discourse attests that the phonograph was for one thing perceived as relieving writers of one of their primary functions: to record the spoken word. For another, many authors were fascinated by the disembodied voices instated by the phonograph’s separation of sounds from their source. In this article, we explore how this double dynamic took hold of the Dutch realm of letters by analysing the correlations between Multatuli’s poetics and literary practices on the one hand and the functions of the phonograph on the other.

Churches and cannons. Urban past and antiquarian societies in Maastricht, 1853-1914.Nineteenth-century Maastricht experienced what we might call a memory boom. This upsurge in historical interest was not a national or provincial affair, but was distinctly locally oriented. Central to this trend were two antiquarian societies, which were deeply imbedded in a network of amateur scholars. By analysing their antiquarian and historical writings, this article researches how the members of these societies cultivated the past of Maastricht. It shows how they evoked an urban selfimage based on the hand on a conception of the Early and High Middle Ages as the town’s golden age, and, on the other, on the remembrance of the sixteenth up to the eighteenth centuries as dramatic historical turning points. Their self-image was defined by its differentiation from other towns and nations, and by its integration into a larger regional or national whole. Thus, this research highlights the continuing relevance of urban identities for the elites of nineteenth-century Maastricht.

‘Is there something more indiscreet than reading someone’s journal?’ The functions of the nineteenth-century youth diaries.In the nineteenth century, many children and adolescents kept a diary. In the Netherlands, studies about the diaries of children and adolescents are rare. This article investigates the functions served by such diaries, both implicit and explicit, by examining ten diaries with the hypotheses formulated in two studies: one study on adolescent diaries from nineteenth century France, and another on a Dutch child’s diary from the eighteenth century. This article will show that the diaries can serve multiple functions for their authors and that the primary function of a diary can change throughout its author’s writing process. A diary may be used for mnemonic reasons, to record the emotions of the author, or to help in his or her character development.

In the footsteps of the ‘famous Meiszner’. Adriaan Loosjes’ national-historical dialogue novels scrutinized.Between 1790 and 1807 author, editor and bookseller Adriaan Loosjes Pz. wrote six so-called ‘dramatische voorstellingen’ or dialogue novels about people and topics of national and historical importance. Loosjes chose this genre, because in his opinion this was the best way to communicate his message of religious inequality and political intolerance. With the dialogue novel Loosjes followed in the footsteps of the German author August Gottlieb Meißner who wrote the novel Bianka Capello and also several other Germans who wrote in and about dialogues. Loosjes’ imitation of Meißner and the translations of a lot of other novels of the German author is also an example of the growing interest in Germany and its literature, especially around 1800.

Paul Kruger as a stage hero and film star. The representation of the Boer War and the rise of nationalism in the Netherlands between 1899 and 1902.The dramatization of current events on stage and in film began to attract a large audience at the end of the nineteenth century. The Second Boer War (1899-1902) in South Africa between the Boer republics and Great Britain provided rich material for four plays, which were staged in popular theatres in a short space of time. Prior to that three theatre companies had hit the stage with sensational melodramas about the Dreyfus affair. The interest in visualization and dramatization of the news in theatre and film peaked around 1900. The rise of ‘newspaper dramatics’ coincided with a rare but fierce outburst of nationalism in the Netherlands. Film and theatre benefitted from the widespread enthusiasm for the nation and served as a catalyst to these passions at the same time. This study argues that the intensity, dissemination and duration of the nationalistic euphoria were fuelled to a large extent by the ascent of sensational spectacles, which unlike the press could generate strong emotions in halls packed with spectators. Because of these and other changes in the media landscape, the national consciousness could grow wings by the end of the century. Drawing upon little known publications of the playwright Herman Heijer mans and other sources, the article maintains that the Boer leader and president of the Transvaal Republic, Paul Kruger, owed his rise to popularity and stardom in the Netherlands as much to popular theatre and film as to the printing press.

The fame of ‘The Rhine’. Celebrity culture around Elias Annes Borger.No destiny has provoked so much compassion in the nineteenth century as that of the Frisian scholar and poet Elias Annes Borger (1784-1820). Although nowadays hardly anybody has heard of him, in the nineteenth century he was a well-known poet, though he only published a few poems for special occasions. Particularly famous at the time was the ‘The Rhine, in the spring of the year 1820’, which he wrote after the death of his second wife. Throughout the nineteenth century the poem became a cultural reference point in the Netherlands. Mainly because of this literary work, Borger posthumously received the position of a literary celebrity. This article analyses why the poem remained popular for such a long period of time. Furthermore, it explores the mythologization and ‘fan culture’ around Borger himself. The case of Borger is exemplary of the literary celebrity cult around a poet in the nineteenth century.

State Martyrs. Batavian Stoicism and the Political Imprisonment in Huis ten Bosch in 1798.After they had fallen victim to a coup d’état in January 1798, 22 former Members of Dutch Parliament were imprisoned in the ‘Batavian Bastille’ near The Hague. Alba Amicorum (friendship books) circulated amongst the prisoners in order to keep morality high. In this article, I give a detailed analysis of the inscriptions in these Alba, as a means to shed new light on the Dutch reception of Stoic philosophy at the turn of the nineteenth century. More specifically, the focus is on the Stoic theory of emotional restraint, which not only shapes our present-day understanding of Stoicism, but has also functioned as a model of conduct for the moderate revolutionaries of the Batavian Republic.