Briefer Mention*

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Briefer mention*

Hein A. van Spaendonck, Catalogus van de Arnhemse drukken tot 1800 aanwezig in de Bibliotheek Arnhem. Hilversum, Verloren, 2002, 16 × 24 cm, 412 pp., illus., isbn 90 6550 724 8, € 29,95

Arnhem has always been the provinicial capital of Gelderland, a good point to keep in mind when looking at the book production in this city. Of the 882 publications pre- served in the Library at Arnhem, 675 were produced for administrative purposes: plac- ards, ordinations and other government publications. Much of this relatively small amount of material has not previously been described, neither in the stcn nor in the Nederlandse Centrale Catalogus, so it seems to be the appropriate occasion for a thorough exami- nation. The result is a clear and clearly arranged catalogue, listed by printer/publisher. Arnhem’s first printer, Willem Janszoon van Campen, began work in 1581 and worked until 1589. (Originally coming from Cologne, he was known to be in Amsterdam between 1590 and 1604.) Over the next approximately 200 years, the tendency for printers to work for fairly short durations in the city continued and only rarely was there more than one printer in residence in the city at any given time. In the seventeenth century, Joannes Janssonius and Jacob van Biesius were the best known and in the eighteenth century the famous Nijhoff family began their activities there. Comparing Gruys and de Wolf’s Thesaurus to this catalogue, it would appear that there is still much to be col- lected in Arnhem, and I hope that scholars will take up this task. If we now look at the catalogue for its own merits, then we can surmise that there is little to complain about. The descriptions of the contents are extensive and seem to be trustworthy. The same goes for the collational formulas and fingerprints, although notations such as ‘4°: A3’ make me shudder. References to other bibliographies and cat- alogues are amply provided and much can be learned from the annotations. This catalogue is fully worth its price and constitutes a valuable supplement to the already existing bibliographical literature. I hope that Van Spaendonck will continue along this path and will honour us with further bibliographies of printing in Arnhem.

Bert Stamkot, Het Gorcumse boek. Vijf eeuwen drukken, uitgeven, verzamelen, lezen en leren te Gorinchem. Gorinchem, Gorcums Museum, [2004], 22 × 28 cm, 224 pp., illus., isbn 908042577x, € 24,50

Gorcum, more formally called Gorinchem, is a small town in the south of the province South-Holland. Many people do not realize that a relatively flourishing book culture existed there. For this reason, it was a good idea to compile an extensive publication on this subject. Stamkot took Paul Begheyn’s Gheprint te Nymeghen (1990) as his model, an understandable choice. It appears that in five centuries – the oldest Gorcum book dates from c.1525 – 41 firms were active in the Gorcum book trade. These were dealt

* All Briefer mentions are by R. Breugelmans

236 Briefer mention

with by Stamkot through their publications but also through additional archival research, and not just in Gorcum itself. These efforts led to the creation of an ‘Inventarisatie van Gorcumse uitgaven tot en met 1800’ [Inventory of Gorcum publications up to and including 1800]. From this, we can learn a great deal: specialities in book production, such as Calvinist books (‘Biblical Gorcum’, folio bibles were copied after the Dordrecht Keur- Bibles) and textbooks. Gorcum also came to be seen as, in many respects, a healthy place. A relatively large number of firms, including that of Paulus Vinck and Willem Goetzee, remained in the town for 50 years or longer. Despite the fact that it was com- posed without making use of the tools of analytical bibliography, the inventory is very useful, albeit marred by several careless mistakes. One example will suffice: by number 01.01 the annotation is given; ‘rul Thyssius 2.031’. rul stands for Rijksuniversiteit Leiden, whereas in 1995 this university’s official name became Universiteit Leiden; the Bibliotheca Thysiana is not a part of the university’s library and ‘Thyssius’ should be spelled ‘Thysius’. The great quantity of titles, found with the help of, among other instruments, the stcn, makes up for this. Other interesting chapters describe ‘Gorinchem literair, over rede- rijkers en romans’ [Gorinchem literature, concerning rhetoricians and novels], ‘Censuur en protectie te Gorinchem’ [Censorship and protection in Gorinchem], ‘De Gorcumse couranten, over pers en periodiek’ [Gorcum newspapers, over press and periodicals] en ‘Boekenverzamelingen’ [Book collections]. In short, this book will become a valuable addition to a reference library.

Lex van de Haterd, Om hart en vurigheid: De Gemeenschap, 1925-1941. Over schrijvers [en] kun- stenaars, van tijdschrift [tot] uitgeverij. [Haarlem,] In de Knipscheer, [2004], 17 × 24 cm, 352 pp., illus., isbn 90 6265 566 1, € 29,50

Bettina van Santen, Lumax. De katholieke vakbondsdrukkerij in Utrecht. [Utrecht,] Uitgeverij Matrijs, [2005] [= Utrechtse stadsgeschiedenissen, 3], 17 × 24 cm, 128 pp., illus., isbn 90 5345 275 3, € 14,95

There have always been Roman Catholic publishers in the Netherlands. After the Revolution in 1795, which granted freedom of religion, their publications could officially be produced. Between the two world wars, a new offspring appeared to take up the task: the progressive-Catholic publisher. By far the most important of these was De Gemeenschap, in operation from 1925 to 1941, which arose from the (literary) periodical of the same name. It aspired to serve as a forum for more than just Roman Catholics and in these endeavours it was surprisingly successful, though external concerns were naturally paired with the requisite problems of the Church. Though the periodical remained recognizable as ‘typically’ Catholic to its external audience, because of illus- trators such as Charles Eijck and Joep Nicolas and authors such as Jan Engelman and Anton van Duinkerken, contributors of other religious persuasions and even ‘unbelievers’ also found a place. Certainly in the beginning typographers such as Charles Nypels had an unmistakable influence even outside of the Catholic world. Much has been written about the periodical, with special attention paid to its contents, but the work of the publishing company has been comparatively neglected. Therefore, the book by