Ellen van Heteren
A mystery traveller
In the mid-seventeenth century, the Dutch city of Haarlem was a centre of culture, learning and art. In this city lived Theodorus Schrevelius, humanist and poet. Born in Haarlem in 1572, Schrevelius studied the classic languages. He became conrector and later rector of the Latin School in his home city. After twenty-four years of service, he was fired because of his remonstrant religious orientation and moved to Leiden, where he also filled the role of rector. Later, he was able to move back to Haarlem. Nearing the end of his life, he wrote the Harlemias, which added to a long list of publications by his hand. After over three hundred years, a copy of this book ended up in the special collections of the Royal Dutch Institute in Rome (KNIR). What is the story of this mystery traveller?
The Harlemias, printed in Haarlem by Thomas Fonteyn in 1648, was written because of Schrevelius’s love for the city in which he was born and raised. The author wrote a history of this city from its first building blocks to his own time. In doing so, he covered many different aspects of this history, which he divided into six ‘books’. The first book tells the tale of the city’s origins, the second of the famous siege of Haarlem, and the third that of the Dutch Revolt and reformation that followed. From the fourth book on, the subjects get more thematic: The fourth book summarizes all the city’s privileges and nobility; the fifth describes the rise of institutions such as the military, schools and police; the sixth book is all about the civility of Haarlem, its important magistrates, learned men, artisans and artists, and all other workers. The work was originally written in Latin and published in 1647, but soon it was rewritten in vernacular Dutch, because the author wanted to share his love for his city with everyone and not just the learned elite, as Schrevelius shares in his foreword to the reader. The books are accompanied by several poems and laudatory speeches.
After this engraving follows the typographical title page on which it, of course, states the entire title, the author and the impressum. On the back of this folio, someone has left their initials or some type of illegible signature. The engraving was an intricate part of the book as the same engraving is found in all other books from the print of 1648. A reprint from 1754 shows a different engraving. The larger part of the book is printed in a gothic letter, but some exceptions occur when names, poems or any type of citation is written.
Overall, the book and its paper are in excellent condition. There are no tears or breaks and no signs of biological infestations except for a little bookworm who left tiny holes in pages 247-383. With the exception of the end leaves and title pages, not a single marginalium can be found. These first few pages do carry interesting information about the provenance of the book. Most of these are, unsurprisingly, stamps and pencil-written signatures of libraries that held this book. Far more interesting, however, is a loose piece of paper that was put between the pages of the book. It contains an invitation for two persons to a concert that was organised by the Acedemie de France a Rome. A previous owner thus was somehow related to the French Academy of Rome. The catalogue of the KNIR library only reveals that the object was added to the collection in 2018, although I find this somewhat unlikely. Unfortunately, the KNIR does not seem to keep any other information about when or how this book came into the possession of the KNIR, whether it has ever been in the French Institute, or when it was bought by or donated to either institution.
Chroniick van Zeelandt - Jan Reygersbergh
Chroniick van Zeelandt is van Boxhorn’s inclusion of the story of the 1530 flood. He mentions for example how within a few days dykes were rebuilt and land was reclaimed, but he also mentions the destructions. It is interesting that he deemed it important ninety year after the disaster to still include it in this work. It appears that the struggle with water is a main theme throughout the text. The return of this story could be explained, again, through the lens of nationalism and regional pride. It creates a sense of solidarity in the fight against water and it subsequent victory.
This essay focuses on the Chroniick van Zeelandt by Jan Reygersbergh. Originally published in Antwerp in 1551, this work chronicles different stories from the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands. The version discussed in this essay is the Boxhorn edition published in Middelburg in 1644. To give an impression of the time, Zeeland in the 17th century was blossoming due to the trade in cities like Middelburg, Vlissingen, Veere and Zierikzee. Zeeland acted as in intermediary between the north and the equally successful province of Flanders. Both the East India Company (VOC) and the West India Company (WIC) had headquarters in the centre of Middelburg. With the abundance of trade also came a necessity for writing, both of regional history, and also for detailing the new information from the Dutch colonies. Middelburg had known a market for printing even before the VOC (1602) or the WIC (1621) were formed. In 1590, Middelburg saw its first printing guild come to life, which gained privileges from the city council on the 18th of August that year. This was the first printing- and booksellers guild in the Netherlands, but unfortunately it was quickly disbanded. A new guild was founded in 1620, which published books not only in Dutch but also in French and English, another great testament to the need for print and the booming economy.
Lieke van Rooij
The Chroniick van Zeelandt was published by Zacharias and Michiel Roman. However, we only have biographical information of Zacharias. Zacharias Roman was the son of Haarlem printer Gillis Roman. His printing shop in Middelburg was housed on the Burcht. He was also deacon of the aforementioned guild and was commonly known for his gilded bible. The editor of this text, Marcus Zuerius van Boxhorn (1612-1652), was professor in the city of Leiden and notorious for his work on Zeeland. His birthplace of Bergen-op-Zoom may have been an inspiration for his interest in the province.
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Some changes he made in his edition include him ridiculing Reygersbergen’s writing on the origin of Zeeland. Originally attributed to the founding fathers Walachrius (Walcheren) and Zalandius (Zeeland), Boxhorn mentions that the references to noble origins although understandable for the time, are inaccurate. Instead, Boxhorn identifies the history of the people of Zeeland to be of a much humbler origin. The return to country and city descriptions in the seventeenth century can be related to a sense of nationalistic pride, as the country was nearing the end of the eighty year war.
Bibliography
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Reygersbergh, Jan. [Chroniick van Zeelandt]. Ed. Marcus Zuerius van Boxhorn. 1644. Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome (KNIR), Pregiato B1.22 G02.
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DBNL. ‘P.J. Meertens, Letterkundig leven in Zeeland in de zestiende en de eerste helft der zeventiende eeuw. 1943. DBNL. Accessed 30 November 2021. https://www.dbnl.org/
tekst/meer035lett01_01/meer035lett01_01_0028.php. -
Esser, Raingard. Chapter Twelve. ‘Concordia Res Parvae Crescunt’. Regional Histories And The Dutch Republic In The Seventeenth Century. Brill, 2007. https://brill.com/
view/book/edcoll/9789047411604/Bej.9789004155275.i-310_014.xml. -
Esser, Raingard. ‘“Ofter Gheen Water Op En Hadde Gheweest” – Narratives of Resilience on the Dutch Coast in the Seventeenth Century’. Dutch Crossing 40, no. 2 (3 May 2016): 97–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/03096564.2016.1159866.
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Hoftijzer, P.G. ‘2.2.6: 1585 - 1725 – Gilden’ Bibliopolis. https://www.bibliopolis.nl/
handboek/search/recordIdentifier/HBB%3A2.2.6/maximumRecords/1 -
Pettegree, A. and A. der Weduwen. The Bookshop of the World: Making and Trading Books in the Dutch Golden Age. Yale University Press. 2019
The edition of the Chroniick van Zeelandt that currently resides in the Koninklijk Nederlands Instituut Rome (KNIR) is complete and has the two volumes bound together. There is a slight difference between the two volumes, as has been established the first was published by Zacharias and Michiel Roman, however in the latter volume Michiel has been dropped from the frontispiece. There is also a slight difference to the descriptive text for the publisher. Instead of lauding Zacharias Roman for his gilded bible, it now lauds him for his newest bible. It seems that there have been editions before this one, because of the page that mentions ‘druckfaelen’ or printing mistakes. The page makes a suggestion that the lovely reader be so kind, were they to see any further mistakes than the ones mentioned, to make the changes themselves. The first volume is wonderfully decorated with embellished capitals and other floral decoration stamps and includes illustrations of the coat of arms of various cities like Middelburg, Vlissingen and Goes. The second volume also includes illustrations of some important stadholders and dukes such as Maximiliaen, Karolus the fifth, and Carolus Quintus. It is bound in parchment and holds 471 [1] pages for volume one and 640 [4] pages for volume two.
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What is striking about this edition of the book in particular is that the page before the title page, or flyleaf, shows a rich history of re-allocation of what I suppose to be within the KNIR. Different pieces of writing in pencil detail an interesting history. For example ‘B 34 bis’ has been stricken through similarly to ‘MR 19,’ the last one being a previous position in the library. What is interesting, not so much for a 2021 audience, but for a later audience is the writing in pencil of ‘2 v bound in 1’ which is dated to ‘2/2018’. The page also has an old stamp from the KNIR. What makes this page so interesting then is that although it does not say much directly for scholarly work, what it does do is reinforce the idea that books are inherently made for and cared for by people. Were we able to accurately date them, this would show exactly when these pencil inscriptions have been made, giving both the human and material history of the book. This is further exemplified by a piece of cloth left behind between pages 598-599 of the second volume, supposedly of a bookmark. Again, showing the use and re-use of the book throughout time.
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As becomes clear the Chroniick of Zeelandt has a rich history, not only within its contents, but also as an object. Written at an incredibly fruitful time for the Dutch republic, this book is a testament not only to the nationalistic ideologies of the time, but also to the quality of production with its incredibly detailed images. What it can tell us today about the object itself is that within it contains a small but very human history.
1 - Maximiliaen, duke of Zeelandt, p. 296 vol. 2
The book is split into two parts, the first is a chorographical description of the province with details on the main towns and regions, the topography, and an etymological outline of the origins of the towns and the origins of their inhabitants. The second part is a chronological narrative of the counts of Zeeland until 1581. One of the notable accounts in the
