Frans Blom
University of Amsterdam, Faculteit Geesteswetenschappen, Faculty Member
- Frans R.E. Blom (1968) is an expert of Historical Literature and Dutch Literary Heritage. At the University of Amster... moreFrans R.E. Blom (1968) is an expert of Historical Literature and Dutch Literary Heritage. At the University of Amsterdam, his teachings and research center on Amsterdam as a creative city in its global context, with a focus on migration stories. His new study on Historical Literature and post-war Migration is out now: Het land achter de zee. Migranten na de Holocaust in detentiekampen op Cyprus - de reis van Emile Pimentel (Querido, April 2024). Blom has a special love for the city's international Grand Theatre, or Schouwburg. He is general editor of the ONSTAGE online datasystem for Theatre in Amsterdam from Golden Age to the present, and writes about the A'dam theatre as an international cultural entreprise in his well-received Podium van Europa. Creativiteit en ondernemen in de Amsterdamse Schouwburg van de zeventiende eeuw (Amsterdam: Querido, 2021). In line with his cum laude dissertation and subsequent publications on Constantijn Huygens, Blom also devotes many of his works and days to multidisciplinary studies of Dutch Cultural History, as in the recent exhibition Directed by: Rembrandt. Rembrandt and the World of Theatre (Rembrandthuis 2024).edit
Analysis of the Introduction and Popularity of the French playwright Molière in the Dutch speaking realm, with a focus on Amsterdam's Grand Theatre of the Schouwburg in the seventeenth and eighteenth century. Notre article présente une... more
Analysis of the Introduction and Popularity of the French playwright Molière in the Dutch speaking realm, with a focus on Amsterdam's Grand Theatre of the Schouwburg in the seventeenth and eighteenth century.
Notre article présente une analyse synthétique de la popularité de Molière telle qu'elle se manifeste dans le grand nombre de représentations de ses pièces au Schouwburg, le Théâtre d'Amsterdam. Notre analyse sera basée sur la base de données ONSTAGE, établie par l'Université d'Amsterdam, qui répertorie toutes les représentations théâtrales au Schouwburg, en détaillant un grand nombre de données, parmi lesquelles les dates des représentations et les recettes. Dans Littératures classiques 2021/3 (N° 106), pages 31 à 47
Notre article présente une analyse synthétique de la popularité de Molière telle qu'elle se manifeste dans le grand nombre de représentations de ses pièces au Schouwburg, le Théâtre d'Amsterdam. Notre analyse sera basée sur la base de données ONSTAGE, établie par l'Université d'Amsterdam, qui répertorie toutes les représentations théâtrales au Schouwburg, en détaillant un grand nombre de données, parmi lesquelles les dates des représentations et les recettes. Dans Littératures classiques 2021/3 (N° 106), pages 31 à 47
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In this article we demonstrate that in the short time frame of ten years between 1656 and 1664 several printed texts in the Netherlands served to promote the image of the American colony in the Dutch Republic. They were closely linked to... more
In this article we demonstrate that in the short time frame of ten years between 1656 and 1664 several printed texts in the Netherlands served to promote the image of the American colony in the Dutch Republic. They were closely linked to Amsterdam’s growing involvement in the colony in these years, and to one particular settlement project: the Amsterdam city colony of New Amstel on the Suyd Rivier, present day's Delaware River.
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Abstract – This article studies the particular relationship between Huygens and his two sisters, Gertrude and Constance, focusing on the question how these intimae are presented to the outside world in the strongly self-fashioning debut... more
Abstract – This article studies the particular relationship between Huygens and his two sisters, Gertrude and Constance, focusing on the question how these intimae are presented to the outside world in the strongly self-fashioning debut volume Otia (1625). The study analysis the position and status of girls in the Huygens family, as compared to boys, and elaborates on the theme of love affairs (in Dutch: vrijage) which is most actual for both the sisters and their brother, who are all blossoming in their marriageable age at the time of publication. What strategies does the poet apply in his book to picture these precious family treasures?
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Susanna van Baerle is the one and unique woman to share her life with Huygens. Their matrimony, which lasted ten years, is a decade of great prosperity within the growing family as well as in their public position. This article portrays... more
Susanna van Baerle is the one and unique woman to share her life with Huygens. Their matrimony, which lasted ten years, is a decade of great prosperity within the growing family as well as in their public position. This article portrays Susanna in all her facets, ranging from the talented, autonomous and highly attractive young girl, to her pivotal role and contribution in the Huygens family, and finally to the breathtaking last moments of her courageous departing from life. The analysis aims at understanding the process when two become one, answering the challenging question about the ‘perfect match’ from two perspectives: why does Susanna choose Huygens and why is she the only one for him?
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Spanish theatre made up a significant part of the Amsterdam Schouwburg’s repertoire during the Dutch Golden Age. The present paper examines the cultural industry around the Schouwburg that generated the introduction and production of... more
Spanish theatre made up a significant part of the Amsterdam Schouwburg’s repertoire during the Dutch Golden Age. The present paper examines the cultural industry around the Schouwburg that generated the introduction and production of these plays. In order to do so, the products themselves and the process of production are examined, but also the agents at work in the chain of translation, their roles and relation with one another.
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This contribution focuses on Lope’s conquest of Amsterdam’s Grand Theater in the 40s and 50s of the seventeenth century. Focusing on creative industries, we analyze the producer’s side for Lope’s “invasion” in the Netherlands, and the... more
This contribution focuses on Lope’s conquest of Amsterdam’s Grand Theater in the 40s and 50s of the seventeenth century. Focusing on creative industries, we analyze the producer’s side for Lope’s “invasion”
in the Netherlands, and the channels that were developed in order to faciltate the new Spanish productions for the Amsterdam theater. Focusing on the consumer’s side, we measure, both qualitatively and quantitatively, the successes (and some failures) of Lope’s plays. in our new data
base ONSTAGE, that gathers information about plays, performances and companies’ revenues, we show convincing evidence that Lope was the most popular playwright in those years in Amsterdam, even more popular than our local playwrights. The article is completed with an inventory of all of Lope’s plays adapted for the Amsterdam stage. We hope these new findings may contribute to a more complete picture of Lope’s European career.
in the Netherlands, and the channels that were developed in order to faciltate the new Spanish productions for the Amsterdam theater. Focusing on the consumer’s side, we measure, both qualitatively and quantitatively, the successes (and some failures) of Lope’s plays. in our new data
base ONSTAGE, that gathers information about plays, performances and companies’ revenues, we show convincing evidence that Lope was the most popular playwright in those years in Amsterdam, even more popular than our local playwrights. The article is completed with an inventory of all of Lope’s plays adapted for the Amsterdam stage. We hope these new findings may contribute to a more complete picture of Lope’s European career.
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One of the many colonists to witness the fierce atrocities in the Indian-Dutch encounters in New Netherland was the preacher and poet Henricus Selyns (1636-1701). In addition to the Ordinance in Selyns’ church records of Breukelen, more... more
One of the many colonists to witness the fierce atrocities in the Indian-Dutch encounters in New Netherland was the preacher and poet Henricus Selyns (1636-1701). In addition to the Ordinance in Selyns’ church records of Breukelen, more indications about the crisis of 1663 can be found in his private poetry. The manuscript volume, which is now kept by the New York Historical Society, contains some two hundred poems in his elegant handwriting. One of these is the masterpiece Bridal Torch, which has been edited with a translation in the appendix to this article. The poem is a baroque narrative, featuring Cupid, the winged god, whose arrows make people fall in love. The setting, however, is not an Arcadian landscape, but Cupid is transferred into a most concrete and recognizable world: the Dutch settlement in America, the Catskill mountains, the Dutch city and villages in the territory of New Netherland, and finally the Fortress on Manhattan. Furthermore, the events in the story plot are highly unconventional. Unprecedented in ancient stories, Cupid's bow and arrows are taken by American Indians. Classical antiquity couldn’t ever have thought of the Winged God furiously demanding his attributes back from the Indians in New Netherland.
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This article analyzes Joost van den Vondel's career strategies and shows that the ambition for obtaining patronage as a poet played a crucial role in the dedications of his consecutive Vergil translations. In the period 1646-1660 Vondel... more
This article analyzes Joost van den Vondel's career strategies and shows that the ambition for obtaining patronage as a poet played a crucial role in the dedications of his consecutive Vergil translations. In the period 1646-1660 Vondel published three Dutch translations of Vergil, one in prose, one 'preview' of the poetry translation, and a final translation of the complete works rendered in verse. For each of the individual dedicatees, the Prince of Orange, the son of the Amsterdam burgomaster Cornelis de Graeff, and the mighty burgomaster himself, the publications' paratexts work to achieve a single goal by means of this work of art: obtaining structural patronage for composing an epic.
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This article deals with Constantijn Huygens’ selfpresentation in his First poetry volume Otia. It appears that the poetical portrait Een wijs Hoveling (A wise Courtier) is crucial in this publication. The vast poem was added in the last... more
This article deals with Constantijn Huygens’ selfpresentation in his First poetry volume Otia. It appears that the poetical portrait Een wijs Hoveling (A wise Courtier) is crucial in this publication. The vast poem was added in the last prepublication editing phase. The aim was twofold: there certainly were literary-compostional considerations, but also socially strategic ones. In highlighting the phenomenon of the courtier, Huygens underscores his social ambitions at the time of publication.
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Abstract – With the fall of Constantinople and the rise of Ottoman power in the Levant an Iron Curtain was lowered, effectively cutting off European contact with the antiquities in Athens, Greece, and Asia Minor. For a long period of... more
Abstract – With the fall of Constantinople and the rise of Ottoman power in the Levant an Iron Curtain was lowered, effectively cutting off European contact with the antiquities in Athens, Greece, and Asia Minor. For a long period of time, representations in word or image were mainly based on sources from Antiquity. However, in the course of the seventeenth century this isolation gradually changed, due to a growing Levant trade. An increasing number of travellers on these tracks, among whom the Dutch regent’s son Gerard Hinlopen of Hoorn, started to explore areas hitherto largely unknown. Their new encounters, recorded in descriptions and sketches, were gratefully adopted by both the academic discourse on Antiquity and the commercial industry of travel writing. This article focuses on the European ‘rediscovery’ of Lesbos. It charts the multi-media renaissance of the island and its archaeological treasure of Potamon’s Throne, which, through the agency of bold explorers, ambitious scholars of Antiquity, market-aware printers, and highly competitive collectors, was turned into one of the great icons of the Levant.
Research Interests: Travel Writing, Cultural Heritage, Manuscripts and Early Printed Books, Levantine Archaeology, Knowledge Transfer, and 11 moreAegean Archaeology, Dutch Literature, 17th Century Dutch Republic, Canon Formation, Ancient Greece (History), Dutch History, Lesbos, Levant, Archaeology of the Levant, Roman aqueducts and water supply, and Greek and Roman Sculpture
This contribution aims at analysing the mechanisms responsible for the negative images of Turks and Ottomans in the Dutch Republic of the seventeenth century. Crucial for those mechanisms are the roles of Amsterdam and the Republic in... more
This contribution aims at analysing the mechanisms responsible for the negative images of Turks and Ottomans in the Dutch Republic of the seventeenth century. Crucial for those mechanisms are the roles of Amsterdam and the Republic in general as an early modern market place for the exchange of information and culture. The systematic transfer of enemy images from conflict zones like the Mediterranean was a major influence on the public images as provided by the theatre or news media.
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Willem Staackmans (1597-1640): the man of small stature from Franeker, who rose from Burgemeester to Frisian representative in the governmental colleges of The Hague, who wrote poetry while accompanying the Prince on his ill-fated... more
Willem Staackmans (1597-1640): the man of small stature from Franeker, who rose from Burgemeester to Frisian representative in the governmental colleges of The Hague, who wrote poetry while accompanying the Prince on his ill-fated campaign through Spanish Brabant, and who exchanged verses with all great literary men of his age. At his burial he was praised by many colleagues and poets, but since he has sunk into silent oblivion. This article revives Staackmans and his literary friendships with poets from the Dutch Republic on the basis of poetry and correspondence. His relationship with the great poet-courtier Constantijn Huygens will be studied in particular.
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In the history of architecture, the Dutch uomo universale Constantijn Huygens was a strong advocate of Classicism. On his Grand Tour to Italy (1620), he was impressed and inspired by the remnants from Antiquity and the vivid examples of... more
In the history of architecture, the Dutch uomo universale Constantijn Huygens was a strong advocate of Classicism. On his Grand Tour to Italy (1620), he was impressed and inspired by the remnants from Antiquity and the vivid examples of modern classicist style by Palladio and Scamozzi. Back home in The Hague, he deepened his knowledge by a thorough study of the theory and principles of classicist architecture. Then, in the 1630s he starting building: first, the city palazzo in The Hague, and then the classicist country estate Hofwijck in Voorburg. When done, the Dutch Classicism project was further developed in prints, prose texts and poetry. For all these elite manifestations in stones, gardening and words, the article analyzes the paradox of classicist grandeur in rural simplicity.
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The establishment in 1638 of Amsterdam’s first public theatre venue, the Schouwburg, caused a major enhancement and upgrading of local stock repertory. Spanish comedia was the new fuel. With Lope’s drama first, Spanish plays and... more
The establishment in 1638 of Amsterdam’s first public theatre venue, the
Schouwburg, caused a major enhancement and upgrading of local stock
repertory. Spanish comedia was the new fuel. With Lope’s drama first, Spanish plays and playwrights were brought to the Schouwburg stage in a serial production. Crowds gathered for anything Spanish, and Spain’s victory over Dutch theatre life was complete even before the war was over in 1648. The paradox of Spain’s triumph in the heart of Dutch culture is centre stage in this contribution, exploring both the transfer route through Amsterdam’s Sephardic community, which facilitated so much successful import of enemy treasures, and analysing the public presentations that framed the Spanishness of the plays and playwrights as a new trademark for the Amsterdam crowds.
Schouwburg, caused a major enhancement and upgrading of local stock
repertory. Spanish comedia was the new fuel. With Lope’s drama first, Spanish plays and playwrights were brought to the Schouwburg stage in a serial production. Crowds gathered for anything Spanish, and Spain’s victory over Dutch theatre life was complete even before the war was over in 1648. The paradox of Spain’s triumph in the heart of Dutch culture is centre stage in this contribution, exploring both the transfer route through Amsterdam’s Sephardic community, which facilitated so much successful import of enemy treasures, and analysing the public presentations that framed the Spanishness of the plays and playwrights as a new trademark for the Amsterdam crowds.
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Between 1656 and 1664 the City of Amsterdam, uniquely, possessed a "City Colony" in the Dutch colony of New Netherland. Called New Amstel, this fledgling colony on the South River—the current Delaware—for a brief time cemented the... more
Between 1656 and 1664 the City of Amsterdam, uniquely, possessed a "City Colony" in the Dutch colony of New Netherland. Called New Amstel, this fledgling colony on the South River—the current Delaware—for a brief time cemented the commitment of Amsterdam to the preservation of the Dutch colony in New Netherland, perpetually—and fatally—under threat from English encroachment. Born out of the anxiety of the Dutch West India Company, which saw the numbers of English settlers swell each year, the City of Amsterdam was persuaded to undertake the settlement of the shores of the Delaware river. There, Dutch settlers were few and far between, and were surpassed in numbers by Swedes and Finns. After the difficult early years, the colonization gained momentum after 1660, and the settlement increased considerably until the English invasion in October 1664 put an end to the Dutch colony. Amsterdam turned to other colonial endeavors with less inhibitions and more chance of success, for example, the rich sugar-producing plantations of Guyana. The memory of the unique experiment of the short-lived City Colony quickly faded.
This chapter on Amsterdam and its City Colony does not deal with its history as such, but with what this episode of Dutch colonial history reveals about the role and the capabilities of ordinary people in this enterprise.
This chapter on Amsterdam and its City Colony does not deal with its history as such, but with what this episode of Dutch colonial history reveals about the role and the capabilities of ordinary people in this enterprise.
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This article is about Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman, the Groningen graphic designer who worked on the clandestine publications of 'De Blauwe Schuit' during WW II. It is based on the monumental H.N. Werkman correspondence edition that Mieke van... more
This article is about Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman, the Groningen graphic designer who worked on the clandestine publications of 'De Blauwe Schuit' during WW II. It is based on the monumental H.N. Werkman correspondence edition that Mieke van der Wal, Willem Koppen and Frans Blom published in 2008 (A'dam/SUN).
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The story of the Dutch and the Swedes in the New World, as neighbors on the Delaware River, is the paradoxical story of joint venture and rivalry.
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The Dutch settlements in America, and New Netherland in particular, remained basically terra incognita in its early years for most people in the home country. This all changed with the publication of Adriaen van der Donck ’s Description... more
The Dutch settlements in America, and New Netherland in particular, remained basically terra incognita in its early years for most people in the home country. This all changed with the publication of Adriaen van der Donck ’s Description of New Netherland in 1655, a new type of representation in terms of its contents, readers and purpose. The book had a great impact on the information, distribution and visibility of New Netherland, in Amsterdam as well as in London after the English had taken over the colony in 1664. It is the aim of this contribution to trace and interpret the altering textual and visual information during that process in a functionalistic approach, following the text from its first edition in Amsterdam through its many-sided afterlife, both in the Dutch Republic and in England.
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Early modern artists use their productions and public actions as platforms for self presentation. In literature, both the materials selected for publication and the arrangement and presentation of the printed volumes are the results of... more
Early modern artists use their productions and public actions as platforms for self presentation. In literature, both the materials selected for publication and the arrangement and presentation of the printed volumes are the results of choices made by the author to meet, respond or anticipate to the circumstances of publication. Collected poetry volumes are representational platforms par excellence.
The critical evaluation of the collected volumes Otia and Momenta Desultoria by the Dutch poet Constantijn Huygens (1596-1687) has
touched upon an essential aspect of in his literary artistry. Preparing his impact on readers, Huygens is in full control of a coherent publication strategy to improve his social position. He really is a great player of the game the Italians would call fare bella figura, that is constructing significant and useful façades or images. In that sense, a striking metaphor is found in Huygens’ architectural achievements in his theoretical treatise Domus and the building’s literary presentation in the collected volume of Latin poetry Momenta Desultoria.
The critical evaluation of the collected volumes Otia and Momenta Desultoria by the Dutch poet Constantijn Huygens (1596-1687) has
touched upon an essential aspect of in his literary artistry. Preparing his impact on readers, Huygens is in full control of a coherent publication strategy to improve his social position. He really is a great player of the game the Italians would call fare bella figura, that is constructing significant and useful façades or images. In that sense, a striking metaphor is found in Huygens’ architectural achievements in his theoretical treatise Domus and the building’s literary presentation in the collected volume of Latin poetry Momenta Desultoria.
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ONSTAGE is your address for questions about the repertoire, performances, popularity and revenues of the cultural program in Amsterdam’s public theatre during the period 1637 - 1772. All data provided in this system links to archival... more
ONSTAGE is your address for questions about the repertoire, performances, popularity and revenues of the cultural program in Amsterdam’s public theatre during the period 1637 - 1772. All data provided in this system links to archival source materials in contemporary administration.
This is ONSTAGE: http://www.vondel.humanities.uva.nl/onstage/
This is ONSTAGE: http://www.vondel.humanities.uva.nl/onstage/
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The Land beyond the Sea. Migrants after the Holocaust in Detention Camps on Cyprus - the Journey of Emile Pimentel (Querido, April 2024). Based on the literary archives of the Amsterdam-Jewish writer Emile Pimentel, this is a... more
The Land beyond the Sea. Migrants after the Holocaust in Detention Camps on Cyprus - the Journey of Emile Pimentel (Querido, April 2024).
Based on the literary archives of the Amsterdam-Jewish writer Emile Pimentel, this is a literary non-fiction study about the postwar migration of holocaust survivors from Europe, focusing on the experiences of 50.000 Jews in British detention camps on Cyprus (1946-1949).
Based on the literary archives of the Amsterdam-Jewish writer Emile Pimentel, this is a literary non-fiction study about the postwar migration of holocaust survivors from Europe, focusing on the experiences of 50.000 Jews in British detention camps on Cyprus (1946-1949).
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Migrants after the Holocaust The Land behind the Sea. Migrants after the Holocaust in Detention Camps on Cyprus - the Journey of Emil Pimentel (Querido, April 2024). Based on the literary archives of the Amsterdam-Jewish writer Emile... more
Migrants after the Holocaust
The Land behind the Sea. Migrants after the Holocaust in Detention Camps on Cyprus - the Journey of Emil Pimentel (Querido, April 2024).
Based on the literary archives of the Amsterdam-Jewish writer Emile Pimentel, this multidisciplinary study about the postwar migration of holocaust survivors from Europe focuses on the experiences of 50.000 Jews in British detention camps on Cyprus (1946-1949)
The Land behind the Sea. Migrants after the Holocaust in Detention Camps on Cyprus - the Journey of Emil Pimentel (Querido, April 2024).
Based on the literary archives of the Amsterdam-Jewish writer Emile Pimentel, this multidisciplinary study about the postwar migration of holocaust survivors from Europe focuses on the experiences of 50.000 Jews in British detention camps on Cyprus (1946-1949)
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In Podium van Europa vertelt Frans Blom de ontstaansgeschiedenis van de eerste schouwburg in het Nederlandse taalgebied: die van Amsterdam. Anders dan we geneigd zijn te denken, bedienden de theatermakers vanaf de opening in 1639 niet... more
In Podium van Europa vertelt Frans Blom de ontstaansgeschiedenis van de eerste schouwburg in het Nederlandse taalgebied: die van Amsterdam. Anders dan we geneigd zijn te denken, bedienden de theatermakers vanaf de opening in 1639 niet alleen de elite in de stad: de Schouwburg bood populair toneel voor een zo divers mogelijk publiek. Veel van wat in de Schouwburg op de planken werd gebracht, naast werk van bekende stadgenoten, zijn Nederlandstalige versies van succesnummers uit het buitenland. Als Titus Andronicus het goed deed onder Engelse gezelschappen, kwam er een Nederlandse variant in de Schouwburg. De Cid was zo’n hit in Parijs dat Amsterdam al snel de Nederlandstalige première had. Maar Podium van Europa gaat over veel meer dan toneelstukken, het is eerst en vooral het verhaal van de geboorte van het uitgaansleven en het ontstaan van cultureel ondernemerschap: hoe een als bedrijf geleid theater in de zeventiende eeuw tot grote bloei kon komen.
Research Interests: Cultural History, Theatre History, Cultural Heritage, Performance Studies, Business History, and 13 moreCultural Transfer Studies, Early Modern Europe, Creative Industries, Early Modern Literature, Shakespearean Drama, Literary History, Creative City, Dutch Literature, Dutch History, European literature, Transcultural Studies, Amsterdam, and Comedia Nueva
This first Dutch for Reading Knowledge book on the market promotes a high level of reading and translation competency by drawing from Dutch grammar, vocabulary and reading strategies, and providing many translation “shortcuts” and tips... more
This first Dutch for Reading Knowledge book on the market promotes a high level of reading and translation competency by drawing from Dutch grammar, vocabulary and reading strategies, and providing many translation “shortcuts” and tips when tackling complex texts in Dutch. Aimed at students, researchers and scholars who need to learn how to read and translate modern Dutch texts for their academic research, this book focuses on those areas where the Netherlands plays or has played a leading and innovative role in the world. These areas include architecture, art history, design, the Dutch Golden Age, (post)colonialism, (im)migration, social legislation and water management. For all areas the authors combine profound knowledge of the field with great expertise in teaching Dutch language and culture. This book can be used for a Dutch for Reading Knowledge course or curriculum, and is also highly suitable for self study.
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Op reis voor Vrede is the successor of the great Nova Zembla story in 17th c. Dutch travel writing and exploration of the bitterly cold North. During the winter of 1615, three Dutch diplomats are on a mission in the frozen wilderness of... more
Op reis voor Vrede is the successor of the great Nova Zembla story in 17th c. Dutch travel writing and exploration of the bitterly cold North. During the winter of 1615, three Dutch diplomats are on a mission in the frozen wilderness of north-western Russia. It is their aim to negotiate peace between Russia and Sweden in the devastating Ingrian war. This enterprise is really the first international peace mission in the name of the Netherlands.
The story itself is told by Anthony Goeteeris. As an eye witness to the expedition, he kept a diary and made more than twenty unique drawings, that provided the Netherlands, and western Europe, with the very first images of Russia. Goeteeris' travel log and the engravings, are edited in the book Op reis voor Vrede, which has been printed on Swedish paper in the eye catching layout of the seventeenth century original print.
The introduction to the diary offers a double perspective. As an expert in Golden Age Studies, the University of Amsterdam scholar Frans R.E. Blom goes back in time, focusing on the cultural history and political relevance of this mission to the young Dutch Republic. Peter Bas-Backer, a former diplomat in Bosnia and a far descendant of one of the protagonists in the 1615 expedition, reflects on the mission from a diplomatic point of view, based on his experience in diplomacy and peace processes.
Op reis voor vrede is a fine book to read and study, bringing to life again a wonderful piece of seventeenth century heritage.
The story itself is told by Anthony Goeteeris. As an eye witness to the expedition, he kept a diary and made more than twenty unique drawings, that provided the Netherlands, and western Europe, with the very first images of Russia. Goeteeris' travel log and the engravings, are edited in the book Op reis voor Vrede, which has been printed on Swedish paper in the eye catching layout of the seventeenth century original print.
The introduction to the diary offers a double perspective. As an expert in Golden Age Studies, the University of Amsterdam scholar Frans R.E. Blom goes back in time, focusing on the cultural history and political relevance of this mission to the young Dutch Republic. Peter Bas-Backer, a former diplomat in Bosnia and a far descendant of one of the protagonists in the 1615 expedition, reflects on the mission from a diplomatic point of view, based on his experience in diplomacy and peace processes.
Op reis voor vrede is a fine book to read and study, bringing to life again a wonderful piece of seventeenth century heritage.
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"Een meesterlijk boek. De vertalers moeten met groot plezier Huygens' vernuftigheden hebben opgespoord, geanalyseerd en vertaald." NRC Handelsblad **** Stemmen van Den Haag is een unieke verzameling gedichten, waarin straten, pleinen en... more
"Een meesterlijk boek. De vertalers moeten met groot plezier Huygens' vernuftigheden hebben opgespoord, geanalyseerd en vertaald." NRC Handelsblad ****
Stemmen van Den Haag is een unieke verzameling gedichten, waarin straten, pleinen en statige huizen in de zeventiende-eeuwse hofstad het woord nemen en de lezer in dichtvorm toespreken. Er treden maar liefst 150 stemmen op, van Binnenhof en Ridderzaal tot stadhuis en Grote Kerk, tot Lange Poten, Plein en Spui, Voorhout, Bierkade, Kneuterdijk of het koninklijke Noordeinde en de schunnige Bagijnestraat. Geen enkele andere wereldstad is op zo'n complete manier in poezie beschreven. Constantijn Huygens heeft al deze locaties in het historische centrum elk een eigen stem gegeven - maar wel een Latijnse stem. Voor deze schitterende tweetalige uitgave hebben Frans Blom en Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer ze stuk voor stuk meesterlijk vertaald.
Stemmen van Den Haag is gemaakt voor liefhebbers van historisch erfgoed dat spreekt, van Latijn dat leeft en van sprankelende hedendaagse poezie. Vele prachtige illustraties tonen de plekken zoals ze er destijds uitzagen en maken dit boek tot een bijzondere kennismaking met Huygens' weergaloze poezie en het zeventiende-eeuwse Den Haag.
Stemmen van Den Haag is een unieke verzameling gedichten, waarin straten, pleinen en statige huizen in de zeventiende-eeuwse hofstad het woord nemen en de lezer in dichtvorm toespreken. Er treden maar liefst 150 stemmen op, van Binnenhof en Ridderzaal tot stadhuis en Grote Kerk, tot Lange Poten, Plein en Spui, Voorhout, Bierkade, Kneuterdijk of het koninklijke Noordeinde en de schunnige Bagijnestraat. Geen enkele andere wereldstad is op zo'n complete manier in poezie beschreven. Constantijn Huygens heeft al deze locaties in het historische centrum elk een eigen stem gegeven - maar wel een Latijnse stem. Voor deze schitterende tweetalige uitgave hebben Frans Blom en Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer ze stuk voor stuk meesterlijk vertaald.
Stemmen van Den Haag is gemaakt voor liefhebbers van historisch erfgoed dat spreekt, van Latijn dat leeft en van sprankelende hedendaagse poezie. Vele prachtige illustraties tonen de plekken zoals ze er destijds uitzagen en maken dit boek tot een bijzondere kennismaking met Huygens' weergaloze poezie en het zeventiende-eeuwse Den Haag.
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The Dutch have a passion for traveling as much as they have for good travel reads. This book presents a journey through some of the most adventurous travel books and reports in the literary past. Point of departure is the A. den... more
The Dutch have a passion for traveling as much as they have for good travel reads. This book presents a journey through some of the most adventurous travel books and reports in the literary past. Point of departure is the A. den Doolaard's writer's lodge which, although located in the pine woods of Hoenderloo, was a home to the wide world of his Balkan novels. From there, the journey goes back in time, following in the footsteps of Constantijn Huygens, the young poet and Grand Tourist who visited Italy in 1620 and brought a rich variety of classicist and Italian architecture, music, arts and literature to life in the Netherlands. Then, the story embarks on a trans-atlantic journey to see Manhattan in seventeenth century depictions and to analyse how the media industry in old Amsterdam daringly created a luring image of New Amsterdam. In its final part, the book evaluates the unique textual and visual description of Russia made in 1615 to meet the Amsterdam hunger for information about the great Tsar, his cities and people, the wild life and the way of life in those mysterious lands beyond the Baltic sea.
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Even a quick glance at J.A. Worp’s six-volume edition of the Correspondence suffices to get a grasp of the impressive epistolary network that the Dutch diplomat-poet Constantijn Huygens (1596-1687) managed to build up in the course of his... more
Even a quick glance at J.A. Worp’s six-volume edition of the Correspondence suffices to get a grasp of the impressive epistolary network that the Dutch diplomat-poet Constantijn Huygens (1596-1687) managed to build up in the course of his long life and career. The numerous letters he exchanged with politicians, fellow writers, philosophers and scientists provide us with a broad view of the culture of the seventeenth century, both in the Netherlands and in Europe. Return to Sender takes as its starting point Huygens’ letters and shows us the author in his different guises: intimus of René Descartes, collector of art, writer of flirtatious love letters and the author of a long consolatory letter-poem for an ailing friend who threatened to go blind. In his letters, Huygens emerges as an often playful yet always ambitious fashioner of his own social image. Return to Sender gives us Huygens as ‘a man of letters’ in a very literal way: conceiving and construing his texts with an addressee in mind, but also with the distinct intention to fashion for that reader a persona that could be represented by means of the text at hand. This volume brings together eight chapters on as many facets of this singularly prototypical Renaissance individual.
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De fameuze secretaris van stadhouder Frederik Hendrik, de dichter, musicus en kunstkenner Constantijn Huygens (1596-1687), had wat met vrouwen. Dat kan worden afgeleid uit de talrijke gedichten en brieven die hij aan vrouwen heeft... more
De fameuze secretaris van stadhouder Frederik Hendrik, de dichter, musicus en kunstkenner Constantijn Huygens (1596-1687), had wat met vrouwen. Dat kan worden afgeleid uit de talrijke gedichten en brieven die hij aan vrouwen heeft geschreven of van hen heeft ontvangen. Daarom organiseert Huygensmuseum Hofwijck in het voorjaar van 2010 in samenwerking met het stadsmuseum Leidschendam-Voorburg een verrassende expositie over de vrouwen rondom Huygens. Ter begeleiding van deze tentoonstelling verschijnt deze bundel, tevens themanummer van De zeventiende eeuw.
Tevens verschenen als themanummer van De zeventiende eeuw 25 (2009) 2.
Tevens verschenen als themanummer van De zeventiende eeuw 25 (2009) 2.
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This cum laude doctoral thesis presents the Latin verse autobiography of Constantijn Huygens in a scholarly text edition with translation, annotation and commentary. A full view on a full Dutch Golden Age life as a poet, secretary to the... more
This cum laude doctoral thesis presents the Latin verse autobiography of Constantijn Huygens in a scholarly text edition with translation, annotation and commentary. A full view on a full Dutch Golden Age life as a poet, secretary to the Princes of Orange, courtier, musician, connoisseur of arts, Lord Zuylichem, decoder of enemy secret codes, husband and widower to Sterre, father of the discoverer of Saturn's ring, young daredevil with fear of heights on the top of Strasbourg's cathedral, Sir Huggins who fell from his horse, teetotaler but not entirely sober, slave in golden chains, frequent follower of dead authors, superb skater who could not swim, defender of a most corrupt son, mountaineer in the Alps, support to the rising William III, pilgrim to Petrarch's Vaucluse, friend of Drebbel and Descartes, composer of William the Silent's epitaph, Erasmus adept, graffiti vandal in Woodstock, a dedicated tutor, and autobiographer.
At the age of 82, Huygens wrote a detailed account of his life and days in an autobiography of more than 2.000 Latin verses. The poem remained unpublished until well after his death.
This Latin-Dutch edition offers a full view on one of the most impressive autobiographies in early modern literature.
At the age of 82, Huygens wrote a detailed account of his life and days in an autobiography of more than 2.000 Latin verses. The poem remained unpublished until well after his death.
This Latin-Dutch edition offers a full view on one of the most impressive autobiographies in early modern literature.
Research Interests: Cultural History, Latin Literature, Early Modern History, Renaissance Studies, Autobiography, and 9 moreEarly Modern Europe, Early Modern Literature, Renaissance literature, Republic of Letters (Early Modern History), Memoir and Autobiography, Autobiographical Self-Representation, 17th Century Dutch Republic, Dutch History, and Neolatin Literature
This is the Diary of the Journey to Venice (1620) by the Dutch uomo universale Constantijn Huygens. The scholarly edition offers a transcription of the French manuscript diary and a Dutch translation with annotations and an introduction... more
This is the Diary of the Journey to Venice (1620) by the Dutch uomo universale Constantijn Huygens. The scholarly edition offers a transcription of the French manuscript diary and a Dutch translation with annotations and an introduction to Huygens and the trip of his life.
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Review of Lisa Jardine's Going Dutch
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Architectural Innovation and the Literary Art of Constantijn Huygens in seventeenth century The Hague.
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Stemmen van Den Haag is een unieke verzameling gedichten, waarin straten, pleinen en statige huizen in de zeventiende-eeuwse hofstad het woord nemen en de lezer in dichtvorm toespreken. Er treden maar liefst 150 stemmen op, van Binnenhof... more
Stemmen van Den Haag is een unieke verzameling gedichten, waarin straten, pleinen en statige huizen in de zeventiende-eeuwse hofstad het woord nemen en de lezer in dichtvorm toespreken. Er treden maar liefst 150 stemmen op, van Binnenhof en Ridderzaal tot stadhuis en Grote Kerk, tot Lange Poten, Plein en Spui, Voorhout, Bierkade, Kneuterdijk of het koninklijk Noordeinde en de schunnige Bagijnestraat. Geen enkele andere wereldstad is op zo’n complete manier in poezie beschreven. Constantijn Huygens heeft al deze locaties in het historische centrum elk een eigen stem gegeven - maar wel een Latijnse stem. Voor deze schitterende tweetalige uitgave hebben Frans Blom en Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer ze stuk voor stuk meesterlijk vertaald. Stemmen van Den Haag is gemaakt voor liefhebbers van historisch erfgoed dat spreekt, van Latijn dat leeft en van sprankelende hedendaagse poezie. Vele prachtige illustraties tonen de plekken zoals ze er destijds uitzagen en maken dit boek tot een bijzondere kennismaking met Huygens’ weergaloze poezie en het zeventiende-eeuwse Den Haag.
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... The bride in this wedding was Judith van Isendoorn. Of her, not much is known, except that she was a member of the Stuyvesant ... witnesses at the ceremony. The wedding of Aegidius Luyck and Judith van Isendoorn was quite a special... more
... The bride in this wedding was Judith van Isendoorn. Of her, not much is known, except that she was a member of the Stuyvesant ... witnesses at the ceremony. The wedding of Aegidius Luyck and Judith van Isendoorn was quite a special occasion for Selyns. ...
This article deals with Constantijn Huygens’ selfpresentation in his First poetry volume Otia. It appears that the poetical portrait Een wijs Hoveling (A wise Courtier) is crucial in this publication. The vast poem was added in the last... more
This article deals with Constantijn Huygens’ selfpresentation in his First poetry volume Otia. It appears that the poetical portrait Een wijs Hoveling (A wise Courtier) is crucial in this publication. The vast poem was added in the last prepublication editing phase. The aim was twofold: there certainly were literary-compostional considerations, but also socially strategic ones. In highlighting the phenomenon of the courtier, Huygens underscores his social ambitions at the time of publication.
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The establishment in 1638 of Amsterdam’s first public theatre venue, the Schouwburg, caused a major enhancement and upgrading of local stock repertory. Spanish comedia was the new fuel. With Lope’s drama first, Spanish plays and... more
The establishment in 1638 of Amsterdam’s first public theatre venue, the Schouwburg, caused a major enhancement and upgrading of local stock repertory. Spanish comedia was the new fuel. With Lope’s drama first, Spanish plays and playwrights were brought to the Schouwburg stage in a serial production. Crowds gathered for anything Spanish, and Spain’s victory over Dutch theatre life was complete even before the war was over in 1648. The paradox of Spain’s triumph in the heart of Dutch culture is centre stage in this contribution, exploring both the transfer route through Amsterdam’s Sephardic community, which facilitated so much successful import of enemy treasures, and analysing the public presentations that framed the Spanishness of the plays and playwrights as a new trademark for the Amsterdam crowds.
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Willem Staackmans (1597-1640): the man of small stature from Franeker, who rose from Burgemeester to Frisian representative in the governmental colleges of The Hague, who wrote poetry while accompanying the Prince on his ill-fated... more
Willem Staackmans (1597-1640): the man of small stature from Franeker, who rose from Burgemeester to Frisian representative in the governmental colleges of The Hague, who wrote poetry while accompanying the Prince on his ill-fated campaign through Spanish Brabant, and who exchanged verses with all great literary men of his age. At his burial he was praised by many colleagues and poets, but since he has sunk into silent oblivion. This article revives Staackmans and his literary friendships with poets from the Dutch Republic on the basis of poetry and correspondence. His relationship with the great poet-courtier Constantijn Huygens will be studied in particular.
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With the fall of Constantinople and the rise of Ottoman power in the Levant an Iron Curtain was lowered, effectively cutting off European contact with the antiquities in Athens, Greece, and Asia Minor. For a long period of time,... more
With the fall of Constantinople and the rise of Ottoman power in the Levant an Iron Curtain was lowered, effectively cutting off European contact with the antiquities in Athens, Greece, and Asia Minor. For a long period of time, representations in word or image were mainly based on sources from Antiquity. However, in the course of the seventeenth century this isolation gradually changed, due to a growing Levant trade. An increasing number of travellers on these tracks, among whom the Dutch regent’s son Gerard Hinlopen of Hoorn, started to explore areas hitherto largely unknown. Their new encounters, recorded in descriptions and sketches, were gratefully adopted by both the academic discourse on Antiquity and the commercial industry of travel writing. This article focuses on the European ‘rediscovery’ of Lesbos. It charts the multi-media renaissance of the island and its archaeological treasure of Potamon’s Throne, which, through the agency of bold explorers, ambitious scholars of An...
Research Interests: Travel Writing, Cultural Heritage, Manuscripts and Early Printed Books, Levantine Archaeology, Knowledge Transfer, and 10 moreAegean Archaeology, Dutch Literature, Canon Formation, Ancient Greece (History), Dutch History, Lesbos, Levant, Archaeology of the Levant, Roman aqueducts and water supply, and Greek and Roman Sculpture
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Schrijvers hebben een open oog voor de wereld en trekken er graag op uit. De lezer thuis reist mee in de literatuur. Deze lezing onderzoekt de effecten van bewegende schrijvers op de vergroting van het maatschappelijk wereldbeeld. De... more
Schrijvers hebben een open oog voor de wereld en trekken er graag op uit. De lezer thuis reist mee in de literatuur. Deze lezing onderzoekt de effecten van bewegende schrijvers op de vergroting van het maatschappelijk wereldbeeld. De analyse is multimediaal en besteedt aandacht aan tekst, beeld, kaarten en apps. We komen in de UB Leiden, in Italie, in New York, in de Casuariestraat van Den Haag en bij de grote Russische tsaar.
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Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the... more
Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible.
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Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the... more
Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible.
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Return to Sender takes as its starting point Constantijn Huygens’ letters and shows us the author in his different guises: intimus of Rene Descartes, translator of John Donne, collector of art, writer of flirtatious love letters and the... more
Return to Sender takes as its starting point Constantijn Huygens’ letters and shows us the author in his different guises: intimus of Rene Descartes, translator of John Donne, collector of art, writer of flirtatious love letters and the author of a long consolatory letter-poem for an ailing friend who threatened to go blind. In his letters, Huygens emerges as an often playful yet always ambitious fashioner of his own social image. Return to Sender gives us Huygens as ‘a man of letters’ in a very literal way: conceiving and construing his texts with an addressee in mind, but also with the distinct intention to fashion for that reader a persona that could be represented by means of the text at hand.
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Research Interests: Cultural History, Theatre Studies, Translation Studies, Art, Theatre History, and 14 moreDutch Literature, Lope de Vega, Dutch History, Creative Industry, Cultural Transfer, Teatro, Netherlands, Países Bajos, Vega, Conquest, Theater, History of the Theater, Industria Creativa, and Transferencia cultural
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This presentation is about a pilot project in which we linked five web resources in order to get a firmer grip on processes of canonization in Dutch literature in the early eighteenth century. The project centers around the Panpoëticon... more
This presentation is about a pilot project in which we linked five web resources in order to get a firmer grip on processes of canonization in Dutch literature in the early eighteenth century. The project centers around the Panpoëticon Batavûm, an early eighteenth century portrait gallery of Dutch writers, initiated by the painter Arnoud van Halen (1673-1732) and continued by others. This hall of fame provides an early example of the historical canonization of Dutch writers. And data analysis might help to get new insights or more robust conclusions about the logic behind this process of canonization. As a collection the Panpoëticon is no longer intact, but it has been digitally reconstructed as a website. We created a RDF representation of this website and combined these data with data derived from the DBNL, Ecartico, Onstage and the Short Title Catalogue Netherlands. Using these combined data sets we can for instance investigate whether the Panpoëticon reflects the popularity of p...
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ONSTAGE is the data repository for Amsterdam’s first and most prominent public theatre venue: the Schouwburg. In theatre history, the Amsterdam Schouwburg has a fairly unique place due to its rich body of extant account books, programs... more
ONSTAGE is the data repository for Amsterdam’s first and most prominent public theatre venue: the Schouwburg. In theatre history, the Amsterdam Schouwburg has a fairly unique place due to its rich body of extant account books, programs and administrative records of annual play lists, and registers of expenses and revenues. These sources, as a most sensitive finger on the theatre’s pulse, can be used as analytical tools that provide access to the theatre’s artistic business, from its foundation in 1638 until today. This data paper is an assessment of the new ONSTAGE data system, in terms of its structure, the nature of the data and enrichment, and the research potential. The paper also explores future growth in linked data systems.