Newsletter
Volume 6, Number 4, July 2003

Dutch Crossing

The latest number vol. 26, number 2, winter 2002, contains papers from the fourth biennial conference of this Association, held at Dublin in January 2002.

The Low Countries: arts and society in Flanders and the Netherlands

The latest number, vol. 11, contains the usual, fascinating, richly illustrated, mixture of contributions, in which everyone can find something of interest. Those in the main section, under the intriguing title. Always the same H 2O , are:

• Herman Pleij, God's subcontractors, the Dutch and water, p. 12-21;
• Luc Devoldere, Excerpts from a log book on the Scheldt and Maas, p.22-37;
• Kees Snoek, Dordrecht, city of living water, p.38-46;
• Guido Burggraeve, Nature between ebb and flood; The Zwin: from sea-inlet to nature reserve, p.47-53;
• Boudewijn Bakker, A new Atlantis:the geometric ideal and Amsterdam's ring of canals, p. 54-64;
• Daniel Depenbroek, Opposites attract: living on the water. p.65-70;
• Piet Boyens, How to paint water: the Leie as a stream of inspiration; p.71-77;
• Peter Karstkarel, Valour on ice: the Elfstedentocht in Friesland, p. 78-83;
• Jozef Deleu, Solid and volatile: twelve poems, p. 84-90;
• Leonard Blussé, Sailing along the wagenspoor: On the sea-road with the Dutch East India Company, p.91-100;
• Anne Provoost, Jeroen Brouwers, Stormy weather: Anne Provoost's Ark and Jeroen Browers' Houseboat p. 101-106;
• Filip Matthijs, Close the sluices!: so you think we've told you everything about the Low Countries and water?, p. 107-115.

The rest of the volume, which occupies more than three hundred pages, contains numerous contributions, some of greater intellectual value than others, on many aspects of the life of this vastly important area of Europe.

Recent publications of Stichting Ons Erfdeel

The Flemish-Netherlands Foundation 'Stichting Ons Erfdeel' has two aims: on the one hand to promote cultural cooperation among all speakers of the Dutch language and on the other to increase awareness of Flemish and Dutch culture abroad. The Foundation seeks to realise these objectives by publishing and distributing a range of periodicals and other publications, both in Dutch and other languages.

• Dutch: the language of twenty million Dutch and Flemish people. £6.00;
• The Low Countries: history of the northern and southern Netherlands. £6.00;
• Contemporary poetry of the Low Countries. £11.00;
• Contemporary fiction of the Low Countries. £11.00;
• Contemporary architects of the Low Countries. £11.00;
• Contemporary sculptors of the Low Countries. £11.00;
• Contemporary dance in the Low Countries. £12.00.

The above-mentioned publications can be ordered from the Foundation, Murissonstraat 260, 8930 Rekkem, Belgium, tel. 00 32 056 411201, fax 00 32 056 414707, e-mail adm@onserfdeel.be.

Elzevier in central London

Background

In 1580 Lowys (Louis) Elzevier, a former apprentice of Christopher Plantin in Antwerp, moved from the Southern Netherlands to the Northern university town of Leiden where he set up his own book shop. Six years later, after working mainly as a bookbinder and bookseller, he was appointed beadle of the Academy. He published his first book in 1592 (Eutropius' Historiae Romanae), It was there and then that the name, Elzevier, with its continuous connection with the University of Leiden, which was finally discontinued in 1712, became associated both with quality printing and shrewd commercialism in the book business.

The first Elzevier to run a printing office was Louis' son, Isaac (Leiden 1617), who also became university printer; Subsequently the large family of Elzeviers ran major printing houses in Leiden (Abraham [I] and Bonaventura, later: Johannes and Daniel) and Amsterdam (Lodewijk [III] and Daniel), while the houses in Utrecht and The Hague (Lodewijk [II]) were of less importance. Members of the Elzevier dynasty (Elsevir, Elzevir, Elsevier) were among the foremost European publishers of their time, not only because of the number and variety of their publications (a total of over two thousand titles, excluding academic dissertations and disputations), but above all because of the perceived physical quality (type, ornament, paper) of the books published. Louis published his first book in 1592 and, according to Alphonse Willems (the outstanding biographer/bibliographer/ cataloguer of the Elzeviers), the last publication was printed in Leiden in 1702 (Willems catalogue, nr. 947) by Abraham Elzevier After that year, until his death in 1712, Abraham only produced a number of dissertations' However the most productive years of Elzevier printing must be located between 1620 and 1680.

Output and imprint

The Elzevier output consists of a wide range of works in theology, philosophy and politics, law and medicine, French plays and belles lettres, not to mention a set of outstanding dictionaries or the overwhelming number of dissertations and disputations that were produced within the various faculties of Leiden University. Reissues of the Classics (Virgil, Seneca, Pliny, Caesar, Cicero) often with annotations by contemporary European/Dutch scholars, were widely sold. Virgil's Opera omnia went through sixteen different editions. The commercial success of these reissues allowed for the publication of more recent work by various outstanding authors (Erasmus, Descartes, Galileo, Grotius, Charron) and for more "risky" undertakings such as the publication of the philosophical works of Thomas Hobbes.

Many of the Elzevier volumes appeared without an imprint, or with a fictitious imprint. For Jansenist works, for example, the names of imaginary printers in Cologne or Liege were invented in order to protect the (French) authors from the accusation of being a Calvinist. When issuing controversial political works, the Elzeviers remained either anonymous or pseudonymous. Names used were those of Jean Sambix (Leiden), Jacques Le Jeune (Amsterdam), Pierre Du Marteau (Cologne), and others. Pirated editions of French plays and other items of belles lettres (Scarron, Comeille, Moliere, Quinault) were given the imprint, Jouxte or Suivant la copie de Paris. Among the group of fictitious imprints those French works form by far the largest group.

Languages

The language of publication is mostly Latin, but there are also works in Greek, French, Italian (Aretino, Guarini, Boccaccio), an occasional one in Dutch or German, and in a number of Semitic languages, but none in English. Why this apparent "omission" in the Elzevier output? Continental Europe during the seventeenth century neither spoke nor read English. As a consequence few books in English can be traced in the stock catalogues of Continental booksellers at the time. In the 1634 stock list issued by Bonaventura Elzevier one finds no less than live hundred titles in French on offer, three hundred and seven in Italian, thirty two in Spanish and only seven in English. Daniel Elzevier1 s renowned Amsterdam stock catalogue of 1674 (seven hundred and sixty eight pages, some twenty thousand items) lists only nineteen titles in English.

Semitic languages, on the other hand, are well represented in the Elzevier output. The University of Leiden had established a Chair of Arabic at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and the study of Arabic and other Semitic languages in the Netherlands flourished throughout this century and the next under such figures as Thomas Erpenius (1584.1624), Jacobus Golius (1596.1667) and Albert Schultens (1686.1750), whose fame drew scholars from all over Europe to Leiden and gave the University a high reputation.

In 1625 Isaac Elzevier had acquired the Oriental printing press from the widow of Erpenius which guaranteed the continuation of books printed in Eastern languages. One could argue that the ability to print Oriental languages gave the Elzevier Press its real claim to distinction; certainly the Elzevier family itself, despite minimal profit margins, and the University of Leiden both thought so.

Commercialism

The Elzevier family nevertheless combined the production of quality books with sound business practice. It made its sales catalogues widely available and explored every possible means of selling books. The firm was represented at book fairs where it deliberately tried to flood the market with its publications (the prices of books were kept relatively low), it was present at many of the auctions that flourished in the Northern Netherlands, it even sold books by a brokerage system where the firm also represented other publishers. In fact Elzevier produced the first auction catalogue that has been identified (the auction of the library of Marnix van Sint-Aldegonde, July 6th 1599 in Leiden).

There seemed to be no conflict between considerations of quality in either content or presentation on the one hand, and the concept of the book as an economic commodity on the other. The Elzeviers never compromised on either of these demands. Inevitably their commercialism has been criticised. To some of those critics their practices were unethical, since they were familiar with all shady tricks and devices of bookselling. Their approach, nevertheless, opened up a whole new market for the book that was traditionally restricted to the elite of academics and theologians.

Strategy

The format of the Elzeviers' publications contributed to their success. Typically many of their books are duodecimo volumes with approximate measurements of 12x6 cm (although they produced well over a hundred folios and some two hundred and twenty-five octavos). Interestingly Roget's Thesaurus lists 'Elsevier edition' as one of the synonyms for littleness. The most striking example is the so-called Republics collection that was published between 1625 and 1649. This collection (not a series in the contemporary sense of the word) comprises thirty three different texts in a total of sixty six editions. Every single work deals with the geography of a country, its inhabitants, economy, governments and history. Originally only a number of studies on Europe were planned, but soon Africa (as a whole) was added to the list and also separate studies on Asia (Persia, China, Japan) The collection of Republics became an instant success and a desired object for collectors- There was a clear publishing strategy aswell- In the 1628 sales catalogue a number of republics are announced which would be published in the years to come.

The success of the Elzevier in small format brought out a considerable number of imitators. Not only format, but ornaments, spheres, etc. were reproduced with varying degrees of skill. There were competitors in Leiden, Amsterdam, Gouda and The Hague, and even in Paris or Rouen. The most talented amongst them was Francois Foppens, a leading printer in Brussels. The very fact that so many excellent printers followed in the footsteps of the Elzeviers reinforces the importance of their role in the history of the book-collectors and collections.

By the end of the seventeenth century Elzevier books were already widely collected and the interest in these publications never diminished. Apart from private collections major holdings outside the Netherlands are to be found in Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Vilnius, and even in St- Petersburg (this distribution, interestingly, reflects some major Dutch trading routes at the time). Amongst book collectors the Elzeviers were equally popular in the UK, especially during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries- Sales catalogues would specifically refer to Elzevier in their listings and, if there was a notable number on offer, the name was carried on the title page.

BL and ULL

Although the Elzeviers did not publish in English, they were responsible for the Latin works of a number of English and Scottish authors. By the last quarter of the seventeenth century Elzevier books were widely available in England and such eminent figures as Sir Walter Raleigh, Robert Burton, Thomas Browne, John Milton and John Dryden had Elzeviers in their collections. As a consequence excellent Elzevier holdings are to be found in, for example, the Bodleian Library in Oxford and the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh- The rage for Elzevier publications in the UK is further reflected in the excellent holdings of the British Library (BL), all of which have been added to the Dutch retrospective bibliography (Short Title Catalogue Netherlands = STCN). This collection has now been complemented by an even more outstanding one held at the University of London Library (ULL), at which the French belles lettres are better represented than in any collection I have seen.

The origin of the ULL collection is rather obscure. From the few archival details that remain it is clear that on October 1st 1900 the collection of Elzeviers was offered to the Guildhall Library by H.A. Beaumont (sometimes recorded as H. K. Beaumont, his identity remains a mystery, although there was a C.W. Beaumont, bookseller, at 75 Charing Cross Road at the beginning of the century) at a price of £50. The Library Committee accepted the offer and the collection was housed in the Guildhall. The pressmarking of books was based upon Willems' catalogue and a set of paper title slips accompanied the collection, but no catalogue was produced- On June 3rd 1946 the then Librarian reported to the Library Committee that, due to a lack of storage space, the Elzevier collection should be housed elsewhere, either on permanent loan or as an outright gift. Subsequently part of the collection was given to the University of London which was formally acknowledged by a letter from the Chairman of the University Court to the Librarian, dated July 14th 1950. The books were stored on the 15th floor at Senate House. A recent review (2001/2002) of Dutch collections in the London area, undertaken by Prof R. Salverda at University College London, brought these important holdings into prominence.

Now, more than half a century after these Elzeviers were received at this university library, the entire collection has been made available, both through the ULL and the STCN catalogues, and also through COPAC, the combined catalogue of major British research libraries. If, as a consequence, one combines the Elzevier holdings in the BL with those of ULL, one can without exaggeration suggest that Central London has become a European Elzevier-centre par excellence.

Further reading:

• Willems, Alphonse, Les Elzevier: histoire et annales typographiques, Bruxelles: Van Trigt, 1880 (reprinted 1962, 1974, 1991).
• Davies, D.W., The world of the Elseviers, 1580-1712, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1954.
• Dongelmans, B.P.M. et al (eds.) Boekverkopers van Europa: het zeventiende-eeuwse Nederlandse uitgevershuis Elzevier, Zutphen: Walburg, 2000.

Jacob Harskamp

Reprinted from FULLview, the newsletter of the Friends of the University of London Library.

ReLiC

The second number of the newsletter of the Centre for Dutch Religious History at the Free University of Amsterdam contains news of the launch of the Centre on 7 October 2002.

On the same day the ReLiC website went live. The site contains information on the Centre's objectives and descriptions in Dutch and English of research projects connected directly with the Centre. A section of the website has been reserved for a database of those interested in Dutch religious history.

The Centre has launched a new series of scholarly monographs. Studies in Dutch religious history, published by Verloren in Hilversum. The publication of the first number, a collection of essays by Willem Frijhoff entitled Embodied belief was timed to coincide with the launch of the Centre and the second one will be issued in the course of this year. An English version of Michiel Wielema's doctoral thesis. The march of the libertines: Spinozists and the Dutch Reformed Church (1660-1750), will investigate aspects of the struggle for greater intellectual freedom by pastors and laity within that body.

In addition to the website the Centre can be contacted at De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam.

ELearnChina Conference 2003

A conference on E-learning, knowledge management; training, localisation, etc. for the Chinese market, which is the biggest growth area for such products at the moment, is to be held at Edinburgh in July 2003.

For further information contact the organiser, Edwin Jones, by telephone, (0044) 0131 440 9881, by fax, (0044) 0131 440 9882 or by email, edwm@elearningconference.net.

Review of Dutch/Flemish Internet Resources

Review of Dutch/Flemish Internet Resources is a web portal provided by the British Library, produced in cooperation with UCL's Department of Dutch. However it is meant to be a web portal to very diverse sources of information, not just of academic interest, and it is aimed at no specific target group.

As can be expected, there is a link from the home page to the British Library Dutch website, but there are also links to a list of coming events and to ticket sales in the Low Countries (both in Dutch) as well as to hotels in The Netherlands (in English). All links are live and updated regularly.

The main part of the portal comprises an extensive alphabetical list of subjects providing links to a wide variety of information about the Low Countries (some including Belgium), its culture, history, language, and its people. This list is headed by 'web pointers', a gateway with links to further search engines, on-line databases, reference sources and collaborative projects, some in English and some in Dutch. The actual alphabetical list of forty one subjects ranges from Academic Institutions to Women's Studies, and with links to Crime, Dance, Film & Cinema, Recreation & Sport, but there really is no academic or book-related slant. At the same time there is a number of library-related links such as Book History, Book Sellers, Libraries, Manuscripts, and Copyright. There are useful links for visitors to the Low Countries, such as Embassy, Museums, Travel & Tourism and Telephone Directories, and a plethora of information about the country itself, which includes Environment, Government, History, Language & Literature and Religion among others.

All descriptions of links listed under the forty one subjects are given in English. The sites themselves are variously in English and Dutch.

The portal certainly lives up to its mission of being intended for the general reader, and it does not neglect academic interests either. The only point of criticism would be that the links given under the subject, Cartography, are only of historical interest: no modern maps of the Low Countries can be accessed from here. However the site is very comprehensible in its coverage of all aspects of Dutch interest, and the fact that all links are live is very commendable indeed.

Dr Anette Hagan National Library of Scotland

UK-Netherlands partnerships programme in science

The British Council in the Netherlands and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research invite applications under the UK-Netherlands partnerships programme in science. The programme provides grants towards the cost of international travel and subsistence for collaborative research visits so that researchers from higher education institutions in the two countries can meet, exchange ideas and engage in academic research in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. Applications in all fields of academic research, including humanities, social sciences, life sciences, natural sciences, technical sciences and agriculture are invited. Applications are confined to young researchers based in an academic institution (not PhD students) who have no more than ten years post-doctoral experience. British subjects should seek further information from:

Jo van Ginkel
British Council
PO Box 2830
1000 CV Amsterdam Netherlands
Tel:+3120 5506062
Fax:+31 206207389
Email: jo.vanginkel@britishcouncil.nl

The politics of religion: Gerard Brandt and the Synod of Dort

In the history of the Reformed Church the Synod of Dort (November 13, 1618 to May 29, 1619) has been a momentous event. The assembly settled the predestination controversy between Remonstrants (or Arminians) and Calvinists. The cause of the conflict was the five articles of "Remonstrance" drawn up in 1610. In an attempt to defuse the situation, the States General of the Netherlands convened the meeting at Dordrecht. The confrontation neverthe-less was a bitter one in which the Calvinists were victorious.

On the surface the conflict was about religious dogma. Yet the debate had political undertones. A theological controversy proved to be an international game of political chess (present were representatives from Great Britain, the Palinate, Hesse, Switzerland, Nassau-Wetteravia, Geneva, Bremen, and Emden). The divide between Remonstrants and Calvinists reflected the power struggle between Maurice and Oldenbarnevelt, the military and political leaders respectively of the Republic. In foreign policy the former insisted on relations with England, while Oldenbarnevelt preferred close ties with France. King James I grasped the importance of the situation and sent a powerful English delegation to Dordrecht which contributed to splitting the Reformed Church. Leaving politics aside, there can be no doubt that the Synod of Dort had a profound influence on the rise of Arminianism in England itself, or, in the words of Nicholas Tyacke, the assembly 'was, to an extent, responsible for the creation of an Arminian party in England'.1

The States General had commissioned the historian, Gerard Brandt, to report on the Synod. The result was a notable study on the Historie der Reformatie in four volumes which was almost instantly translated into English, underlining the importance attached to the Synod of Dort. An objective description of the debates was demanded and the authors seemed to have adhered to this dictate admirably. But not quite.

Brandt's study has been praised as a highlight in Church historical writing and most libraries hold a copy of his work. Yet the publication of the book created an immediate controversy which forced political intervention. Brandt himself was a Remonstrant. In volume three of the study he makes his true feelings known by including a fierce anti-Calvinistic poem, entitled 'De Triumphe van de Gereformeerde Duivel op zijn Synode' ( The triumph of the Calvinist devil at his synod ). By implication he attacked the English delegation which had been instrumental in the rejection of Arminian doctrines. It enraged the States General, fearing political repercussions. Volume three was taken out of circulation and destroyed. Only a few copies (an estimated 10 to 15) survived, in later editions page concerned is left empty.

Brandt's study is important from a historical point of view. From a bibliographical perspective the original volume three is a rarity 2. This is one of those fascinating moments that a bibliographical account deepens historical insight. The debates and development at Dort have been recorded in detail. That record, however, does not reflect the passion of the conflict. The bibliographic history of a relatively small poem contained in (and removed from) this massive study throws more light on the emotion involved than hundred pages of facts.

The Dutch section is grateful to the Friends of the British Library in supporting the acquisition of this very unique book. Ironically the copy concerned was bought by an Amsterdam antiquarian in a sale of books originally held in a Flemish convent. The book was most likely locked away throughout the ages. Hence it has remained in immaculate condition.

1. Anti-Calvinists: the rise of English Arminianism c.1590-1640 . Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987, p. 87.

2. For bibliographic details see it: Knuttel, Bibliografie van de kerkgeschiedenis . 's Gravenhage, 1899, pp. 45/6. 

Jaap Harskamp
British Library

The Williamite Universe

The Williamite Universe, in collaboration with the Research Institute for Irish and Scottish studies are (RIISS) and the Centre for Early Modern Studies (CEMS), will host a conference on the 12th and 13th December, 2003 entitled "Inside out and outside in: a new look at the 17th century republic of letters". The central theme will be the ideas, characteristics and mechanics of cultural and intellectual life in a seventeenth-century Protestant Europe. On the first day the conference will concentrate on the "geographical entity" formed by the United Provinces, Britain, Switzerland and parts of Germany and France. On the second day the focus will be on the outsiders' perception of this "Protestant" learned world and the impact and reception of its ideas outside this geographic sphere.

Papers are invited on the following topics:

• Individuals, circles and networks operating in the Republic of Letters
• Protestant politics: theory and practice
• Strangers and foreigners in the Republic of Letters
• The reception of Protestant ideas in Catholic Europe and the colonies

Please send a three hundred-word abstract before 15 August to Thewilliamiteuniverse@yahoo.com.

For more information consult the Williamite Universe website , or contact the organisers. Hugh Dunthorne (University of Swansea), Esther Mijers (University of Aberdeen) and David Onnekink (University of Utrecht), at the willianuteuniverse@yahoo.com or write to Esther Mijers, AHRB Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies, Aberdeen University, Humanity Manse, 19 College Bounds, Aberdeen AB24 3UG, Scotland UK.

Societe des Amis de Jongkind

Readers are invited to access the web site of the above-named society, which contains information on its aims and activities. The introductory page gives details of a new publication to be issued at the end of September 2003, "Johan Barthold Jongkind (1819-1891), héritier, contemporain et précurseur".

Material for next issue

Contributions for the next issue of the Newsletter, vol 6, number 5, should be sent to the editor by e-mail to William_A_Kelly@CompuServe.com or by post to him at 54 Edderston Road, PEEBLES EH45 9DT, Scottish Borders by the end of November 2003.

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