Jaarboek voor Nederlandse Boekgeschiedenis. Jaargang 1

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Summaries/zusammenfassungen

Han Brouwer, De vele geschiedenissen van het boek. Bij wijze van inleiding [The many Histories of the Book. An Introduction]

In the Introduction a brief sketch is given of the development of historical interest in books in The Netherlands. A distinction is made between three generations of book historians. The first, nineteenth-century generation consisted of bibliographers, librarians, booklovers, booksellers and men of leisure and was mainly interested in old and rare books.

The main interest of the second, post-war generation, the so-called ‘bibliologen’, was the production and description of books. This generation was inspired by Anglo-Saxon analytical bibliography.

The third, modern generation, inspired by the French ‘histoire du livre’, broadened the scope of book historical research, including not only the study of the production, but also the study of the distribution and the consumption of all kind of books. Scholars from a wide range of disciplines - literary, cultural, art and church historians, social scientists - show a growing interest into related issues: the audience of books, popular literature, reading practices, pictures of reading and writing men, literary socialization and so on.

Nowadays, the history of the book can no longer be seen as a discipline with one single object and method. It must be viewed as a multidisciplinary field of study. The world of the book is explored by scholars of different backgrounds, asking different questions and using different methods. It is this new multidisciplinary approach that will enable us to write the many fascinating histories of the book.

Willem Heijting, Devote en seer schoone boekskens. Boekhistorische verkenningen rond het Nederlandstalig godsdienstig proza in de zestiende eeuw

[Devout and most excellent treatises. Book historical explorations in sixteenth century religious prose in Dutch]

Sixteenth century religious prose in Dutch has not been fully dealt with in any publication. The premises of the book historical literature in this field are in need of revision. Before proceeding to a book historical description of this culturally influential genre, we need to consider a number of issues.

First of all, typography should be studied more as just one of the agents in a multifaceted communication process. Especially the development of the reading culture deserves more attention where religious literature is concerned. The interference between the spoken word and the written or printed word is important in this context.

Secondly, it is necessary for the book historian to carry out history less fragmentarily and therefore also include church history in his story.

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The third recommendation concerns the study of the world of the book, that should cover the entire communication-circuit as employed by Darnton. For the research into religious literature there is, among other things, a need for insight into longterm, partly non religion specific text traditions, into distribution, especially by street trade, and into the possession of books by different social classes.

Fourthly, it can be established that there is a lack of bibliographies that take stock of the supply of religious literature. The purely bibliographical work should be connected with research into the socio-cultural aspects of the supply of books described.

The history of the religious book then, will have to be studied in close connection with history and church history; the historian, on his part, should be willing and able to apply methods currently used in the fields of bibliography and book history.

P.J. Verkruijsse, Kronieken zijn ook boeken. Depositie van de boekhistoricus in de historische disciplines

[Chronicles are also books. The book historian's position in the historical disciplines]

Book history should not be the exclusive domain of book historians, if there is any species like that. In every historical discipline a number of experts should study the printed sources in all aspects: their distribution as well as their consumption and production. The study of the book production should imply analytical bibliography. As a case study for historians with book historical interest an example is given concerning 17th century chronicles.

Arianne Baggerman, Lezen tot de laatste snik. Otto van Eck en zijn dagelijkse literatuur (1780-1798)

[Reading to his last gasp. Otto van Eck's daily reading (1780-1798)]

In 1791, when he was ten years of age, Otto van Eck began keeping a diary which he continued until he reached the age of seventeen. Because he wrote a lot about the books he had been reading during the day, this egodocument provides a rich source for historians of reading. Otto turns out to be an ‘extensive’ reader in the sense that he absorbs a great number of titles belonging to a variety of genres; he seldom reads a book or even a passage more than once.

Otto's remarks make it possible to identify 35 titles he read in the period 1791-1797: especially historical books, books about natural history, children's novels and religious literature. This reading was closely linked to fixed moments of the day and took place in company with his parents, who commented on and amplified the texts Otto read aloud to them.

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Lisa Kuitert, In den beginne was de schrijver. Maar dan? De beroepsauteur in boekhistorisch onderzoek

[Im Anfang war der Autor. Aber dann? Die Bedeutung des Berufsschrift stellers für die buchgeschichtliche Farschung.]

Dieser Beitrag untersucht die Bedeutung des Berufsschriftstellers für die buchgeschichtliche Forschung. Der Name des Autors dient dem Lesepublikum als Hinweis darauf, was es von einem Buch erwarten kann. In vergangenen Epochen sind Bücher oft anonym erschienen. Das lag unter anderem daran, da⃟ es noch keinen Urheberrechtsschutz gab und Bücher der Zensur unterlagen, aber auch das Ansehen des Schriftstellers spielte dabei eine Rolle. Im 19. Jahrhundert erhalten auch die Niederlande ein Urheberrecht, wodurch es für den Schriftsteller einfacher wird, aus seinem Namen ein Markenzeichen zu machen.

Am Beispiel des Berufsschriftstellers J.J. Cremer (1827-1880) wird geprüft, ob der Name des Verfassers das Lesepublikum beim Ankauf seiner Werke tatsächlich beeinflußt hat. Dies scheint zwar der Fall gewesen zu sein, aber wie aus diesem Beitrag hervorgeht, hatten auch Verleger, Literaturkritiker, Theaterdirektoren und ein auf eine bestimmte Richtung eingeschworenes Publikum die Hand mit im Spiel. Dieser Beitrag kommt denn auch zu dem Schluß, daß der Autor nur in Verbindung mit den anderen Grössen des sogenannten ‘Darnton-Modells’ untersucht werden sollte.

Remieg Aerts, De Gids en zijn publiek. Een compositieportret

[De Gids and his audience. A composite portrait]

The distinguished cultural-political monthly De Gids (issued since 1837) may be considered as an important source for the study of cultural history. However, to treat it exclusively as a subject of intellectual history will not do. To assess its importance we also need information about its readership. In default of the publishing firm's archives, any reconstruction of the reading public can only be impressionist. It will consist in the combination of fairly different sources. The periodical's contents, the publisher's prospectuses, and advertisements in De Gids together indicate its assumed readership; letters of readers to the editors, library catalogues, and records of booksellers and reading-societies give a glimpse of actual readers and their social status. It is probably safe to conclude that they were mainly well-educated, liberal, modernist-Protestant members of the upper middle class.

De Gids was a rather small publication (about 500 subscribers) in its early decades, when it earned its lasting fame as a severe critic and tutor of the Dutch men of letters. After 1848 its general purpose became to enlighten and to influence the emancipated upper middle class. At the end of the century it tended to comply with its public's tastes. Its circulation of 2000 copies about 1900 (which stood for an even wider readership, since many of the subscribers were in fact reading-societies) made De Gids the leading monthly in the Netherlands. From 1916 onwards the figure of its subscribers

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steadily decreased, to about 500 in 1940. Partly this development was due to the more elitist character of De Gids, which by the 1930s came to regard itself as a monument of national civilization. Besides there were more deeply-seated causes, such as the economic low tide, the increasing competition of the mass press, and the supersession of reading-societies by public libraries.

F. de Glas, Spelregels voor het boekenvak. Het Reglement voor het Handelsverkeer als spiegel van de ontwikkeling van het boekenvak 1904-1961

[Spielregeln für den Buchhandel. ‘Het Reglement voor het Handelsverkker’ als Spiegel der Entwicklung des Buchhandels 1904-1961]

Seit 1815 gibt es in den Niederlanden die Vereeniging ter Bevordering van de Belangen des Boekhandels, eine Organisation, die etwa dem deutschen Börsenverein entspricht. In diesem Verein beraten die niederländischen Verleger und Buchhändler sich über eine ganze Reihe von Angelegenheiten, die den Buchhandel betreffen.

1924 haben Verleger und Buchhändler in diesem Verein eine Verkehrsordnung für den Buchhandel beschlossen. Im entsprechenden Reglement wurden vier Grundsätze des niederländischen Buchhandels festgelegt: (1) verbindliche Festpreise für Bücher, (2) die Anerkennung von Buchhändlern und Verlegern, (3) Einschränkung von Rabattmöglichkeiten für die Abnehmer, und (4) eine eigene Schlichtungskommission, die bei Konflikten als Schiedsrichter auftritt. Die Verkehrsordnung von 1924 versuchte vor allen, die Position der Buchhändler den mächtigen Verlegern gegenüber zu stärken.

Der Beitrag erörtert die Entstehungsgeschichte der Verkehrsordnung und analysiert die einzelne Punkte, die in diesem Reglement festgelegt wurden. Im Kräfteverhältnis zwischen den Buchläden und den Verlagen verbessert der Buchhändler anfangs seine Lage. Nach dem zweiten Weltkrieg starten die Verleger jedoch eine Gegenoffensive, indem sie unter anderem ihre Verkaufsmöglichkeiten durch Schaffung neuer Vertriebswege ausbreiten (Verkaufsstellen außerhalb des Buchhandels, Buchgemeinschaften und Direktverkauf). In den letzten zehn Jahren schließen die Buchläden in den Niederlanden und Flandern sich in immer größeren Verbänden zusammen, um ihre Position zu verbessern.

Greetje Heemskerk, ‘Ziekelijk door die leeszaal’. De strijd tussen de Openbare Bibliotheek en de leesbibliotheek tijdens het interbellum

[‘Ill by the reading room’. The battle between public libraries and commercial circulating libraries (1918-1940)]

This article deals with the conflict between public libraries and commercial circulating libraries during the interbellum period. Contrary to other countries public libraries were still very rare in The Netherlands at that time. Before the first public libraries were established at the end of the nineteenth century, there were, on the one hand, libraries with a philantropical goal, for instance the libraries of ‘De Maatschappij tot Nut van 't Algemeen’ [Society for the public benefit] that focussed on the lower classes of society. On

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the other hand there were commercial circulating libraries where everybody could borrow a book for a low price. It took until 1921 for the government to recognize the aim of public libraries: libraries not only for the lower classes, but - like general education - for the whole of society, and not supported by donations from the rich but by the government.

After 1921 public libraries began to criticize circulating libraries. Due to the economic crisis the government was lowering the subsidy every year and to strengthen its position, the public library-world began to throw discredite on circulating libraries. By emphasizing the moral danger of commercial libraries, public libraries wanted to underline the importance of their own existence. Commercial circulating libraries, however accused public libraries of unfair competition: due to government support they could lend books for a better price than circulating libraries.

After years of sometimes intense debate public libraries and circulating libraries came to an agreement in which their respective goals were subscribed and recognized. Public libraries promised to emphasize on the purchase of educational books, while commercial circulating libraries would limit themselves to the market of the novel-reader.

Lizet Duyvendak, De moderne leeskring

[20th century Reading Circles]

This paper claims that book history and literary history should work together to answer questions that are fundamental to these disciplines: why are readers reading a particular book, and what significance has the reading of that particular book for them.

By way of a case study the author considers the book selection of two present day Reading Circles in two different parts of the Netherlands. During the last twenty years of our century those Reading Circles have become very popular. The participants are mostly women. The ‘reading-circle-movement’ was grounded by traditional (agricultural and christian) womengroups. Its members experienced great difficulty in understanding postwar literature their children read for schooling purposes.

Nowadays the member's motives for reading and the selection criteria have changed: they aren't reading anymore to understand their children, but for literature's own sake.

B.P.M. Dongelmans, De betekenis van oplage

[The meaning of circulation figures[

‘Edition’[oplage], the number of copies printed, provides a good starting point for analyzing the history of one book, of a type of books, or of books in general. Yet, little is known about the number of copies printed. Not only is it difficult to find precise circulation figures, also the notion of oplage [edition] itself causes problems. Book historians and literary historians, for example, use the word in different ways. This contribution analyzes the various semantic and economic meanings of the term oplage and a more refined terminology is suggested to avoid confusion.

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In the second part the available sources for circulation figures - e.g. advertisements in newspapers, publishers' catalogues, trade inventories, bibliographies, and archival sources such as publishers' account books and ledgers - are discussed. On the basis of various examples dating from different periods it becomes clear that in trying to properly interpret circulation figures one has to take into consideration a great number of circumstances and to be explicit about them. Otherwise, the interpretations made are of little value.