ty organised a conference in Utrecht, entitled ‘Aanstormend en gevestigd’ (Fresh and established), on the current state of book history in the Netherlands. The presentations were interesting and the discussions were lively, which might suggest that the conference was unanimously regarded as a success. This was not the case, however, as a critical review appeared in the September issue of De Boekenwereld (26, no. 5) that same year. The article was written by Flemish book historians under the fetching title, reminiscent of Xenophon: ‘Thalassa! Thalassa? De laaglandse boekgeschiedenis en haar zee van mogelijkheden’ (Thalassa! Thalassa? Book history in the Low Countries and its sea of opportunities). In their article, the authors objected to a perceived air of self-satisfaction dominating the conference, which they also felt had suffered from shortage of vision and ‘a lack of theoretical reflection and methodological transparency’. They believed the basis for the discipline of book history was in danger of crumbling. Although there have been some eloquent responses to foil that criticism, it was obvious that the Flemish colleagues had hit a nerve.
The nbv rose to the challenge by organising, together with the Tiele Foundation, an expert meeting on 10 February 2012 called ‘Een toekomst voor de boekwetenschap’ (A Future for Book Science). The speakers were Kevin Absilis (University of Antwerp), Jeroen Salman (University of Utrecht), August den Hollander (vu University) and Boudien de Vries (University of Amsterdam). The event was chaired by Lisa Kuitert (University of Amsterdam). The programme allowed plenty of room for discussion and the attending book historians eagerly availed themselves of this opportunity. An account of the meeting was published later.
The conclusion reached was that a more thorough professional exchange of views was needed in the field of book history and that active cooperation was vital to strengthen the structure of the discipline. A platform for book science may help harness Dutch and Flemish book-historical forces so together they can face the increasing competition in the world of funding. It is now time to take some concrete steps. In cooperation with the Vlaamse Werkgroep Boekgeschiedenis (vwb, Flanders Book Historical Society), the nbv and the Tiele Foundation are therefore organising a follow-up expert meeting, putting theory into practice.
Although it might appear from the above that the executive committee of the nbv is mainly focussed on scholarship, this is not the case. Although we need scholarly research to fully understand all aspects of the history of the book, the accumulated scholarly expertise can be communicated in other ways than through academically sound articles only, for instance by offering instructive excursions, interesting annual meetings (this year in the famous Peace Palace in The Hague, which happens to be celebrating its first centenary) and stimulating papers. This is not all the nbv will be offering its members this year. At a conference scheduled for November, eight experts on book history will be sharing their views on what the history of the book can tell us about the media revolution we are now witnessing, especially with regard to the reception of texts. There will also be plenty of opportunity for attendees to interact with the speakers.
Finally, I would like to turn to the Jaarboek itself. Following an animated meeting, the executive committee and the editorial board came to the conclusion that the Jaar-
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