Shopping Spaces and the Urban Landscape in Early Modern Amsterdam, 1550–1850 FOR PRIVATE AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE AMSTERDAM UNIVERSITY PRESS Amsterdam Studies in the Dutch Golden Age Editorial Board: Frans Blom, University of Amsterdam Michiel van Groesen, Leiden University Geert H. Janssen, University of Amsterdam Elmer E.P. Kolfin, University of Amsterdam Nelleke Moser, VU University Amsterdam Henk van Nierop, University of Amsterdam Claartje Rasterhoff, University of Amsterdam Emile Schrijver, University of Amsterdam Thijs Weststeijn, University of Amsterdam Advisory Board: H. Perry Chapman, University of Delaware Harold J. Cook, Brown University Benjamin J. Kaplan, University College London Orsolya Réthelyi, Eötvös Loránd University Budapest Claudia Swan, Northwestern University FOR PRIVATE AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE AMSTERDAM UNIVERSITY PRESS Shopping Spaces and the Urban Landscape in Early Modern Amsterdam, 1550–1850 Clé Lesger Amsterdam University Press FOR PRIVATE AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE AMSTERDAM UNIVERSITY PRESS This edition was produced with financial support from: The Amsterdam University Fund De Gijselaar-Hintzen Fonds The Faculty of Humanities, University of Amsterdam The Professor van Winter Foundation First published as: Clé Lesger, Het winkellandschap van Amsterdam. Stedelijke structuur en winkelbedrijf in de vroeg- moderne en moderne tijd, 1550–2000 (Hilversum: Verloren, 2013). Translation: Vivien Collingwood Cover illustration: Second-hand shop in Amsterdam, sixteenth century. Hortensius, Het boeck van den oproer der weder-dooperen; BC/UvA, 2 C 18. Cover design: Kok Korpershoek Lay-out: Newgen/Konvertus isbn 978 94 6372 062 5 e-isbn 978 90 4855 005 0 doi 10.5117/9789463720625 nur 685 © C.M. Lesger / Amsterdam University Press B.V., Amsterdam 2020 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be re- produced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. Every effort has been made to obtain permission to use all copyrighted illustrations reproduced in this book. None- theless, whosoever believes to have rights to this material is advised to contact the publisher. FOR PRIVATE AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE AMSTERDAM UNIVERSITY PRESS In memory of my parents, who were both shopkeepers and the children of shopkeepers. FOR PRIVATE AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE AMSTERDAM UNIVERSITY PRESS Table of contents Preface 9 Introduction 11 1. Shops, markets and the urban landscape in sixteenth-century Amsterdam 17 - Historical background 17 - The location of retail activities: Theory 19 - The urban landscape of Amsterdam in the sixteenth century 25 - The location of shops in the urban landscape 29 - Streets, houses and shops 39 2. Changing distribution systems: differentiation and specialization in early modern Amsterdam 55 - Distribution systems in the US and England 55 - Distributive trade and distribution in Amsterdam 61 - Combinations of wholesale and retail 76 3. Shop location patterns in the age of the great urban expansions 81 - A period of dynamism and expansion 82 - Patterns of accessibility in the enlarged city 92 - Shops in the city centre and the new neighbourhoods 96 - The retail landscape of Amsterdam in the seventeenth century 106 4. The retail landscape and the consumer in the seventeenth century 113 - The street 113 - Shopfronts 119 - Shop interiors 136 - Buying and selling 155 5. The location of shops in Amsterdam in the mid-eighteenth century 159 - Sources and location patterns: A first exploration 160 - The retail system in the city centre: The main shopping streets 165 - Shops outside the city centre 168 - Forms of accessibility and the urban grid in Amsterdam 174 FOR PRIVATE AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE AMSTERDAM UNIVERSITY PRESS 8 SHOPPING SPACES AND THE URBAN LANDSCAPE IN EARLY MODERN AMSTERDAM, 1550–1850 6. Stagnation and modernization in Amsterdam’s retail sector, 1700–1850 177 - Shops in Britain in the eighteenth century 177 - The number and location of shops in Amsterdam 179 - Urban improvement in Amsterdam 182 - Retail trade practices in Amsterdam 207 Conclusion: Continuity and change in Amsterdam’s retail landscape 235 Appendix: Sources for the location of shops in Amsterdam and selection of sectors 241 List of consulted sources and literature 243 List of tables 257 Image credits 259 Topographical index 263 FOR PRIVATE AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE AMSTERDAM UNIVERSITY PRESS Preface This book is based on a more extensive Dutch- Donner, who managed the collection of the language study of the retail trade in Amsterdam Royal Antiquarian Society of the Netherlands between 1550 and 2000, which was published (het Koninklijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap). by Verloren publishers in 2013.1 I am grateful to I am also grateful to the late Dr Henk Zantkuijl, Thys VerLoren van Themaat for granting per- who provided detailed answers to my numer- mission for the early modern part of the study ous questions about front steps, pothuizen and to be published here in English. When produc- display cases in Amsterdam, and who also put ing the English-language edition, I benefitted me on the track of relevant prints and architec- from the expertise and advice of Inge van der tural drawings. Finally, colleagues, students and Bijl at Amsterdam University Press and from former students informed me when they came Vivien Collingwood’s translation skills. This across images that might be of interest to the English-language edition would not have been research. Without mentioning specific names, I possible without the support of four funding in- am extremely grateful to them all. I should add stitutions, and it is with pleasure that I mention that I am aware of the limits of visual material the financial contributions from—in alphabeti- when reconstructing the material life of the cal order—the Amsterdam University Fund, past, and that is precisely why the results of the the De Gijselaar-Hintzen Fonds, the Faculty of image-based research were constantly tested Humanities of the University of Amsterdam against what was recorded in written sources and the Professor van Winter Foundation. on shops. The research that underlies this book is For the analysis of patterns of accessibility based on a very considerable quantity of ar- in Amsterdam’s urban grid—to be discussed chival material, and I would like to thank the in the chapters to come—the Bartlett Faculty employees of the Amsterdam City Archives of the Built Environment at University College for their contribution to this project. This con- London generously made computer software sisted not only of lugging around large quanti- available. I am pleased to mention that it was ties of records and helping me to find yet more Dr Marlous L. Craane, at that time a doctoral archival material, but also of the trouble they candidate at Tilburg University, who informed have taken over the years to digitize many me of the existence of the software in question. thousands of images and make them available She also advised and assisted me during my via the image archive (Beeldbank). In this study, initial attempts to analyze the Dutch material these images form an important source of in- from this perspective. formation on the exterior and interior of shops. It would not have been possible to conduct I also looked for visual material elsewhere, and the research without the skilled and helpful in doing so I benefitted, among others, from staff and excellent collection of the University the expertise and suggestions of Mrs Miekie of Amsterdam’s library. In the University Li- brary, one seldom fails to find a title contained 1 Lesger, Clé, Het winkellandschap van Am- in some exotic journal or book, and when it sterdam. Stedelijke structuur en winkelbedrijf in de comes to cartographic material on Amster- vroegmoderne en moderne tijd, 1550-2000 (Hilversum dam, the Library nearly always comes up with 2013). the goods. The History Department of the FOR PRIVATE AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE AMSTERDAM UNIVERSITY PRESS 10 SHOPPING SPACES AND THE URBAN LANDSCAPE IN EARLY MODERN AMSTERDAM, 1550–1850 University of Amsterdam facilitated this study interest in the history of shopping and the retail by twice granting me an exemption from teach- trade, and I have fond memories of our joint ef- ing, by never complaining about the large num- forts in this field. bers of copies and prints that were made as part of the research, and by providing me with office I would once again like to thank all those, supplies in all shapes and sizes. I am grateful named and unnamed, who contributed to the for the collegial atmosphere that I have enjoyed creation of this book, and I hope that I have there over the years. Once I had a text, this col- done justice to their efforts with the end result. legiality was also expressed in the willingness In line with established academic practice, but shown by my now former colleagues, Dr Bou- no less sincere for that, I should like to conclude dien de Vries and Prof. Piet de Rooy, to read and this preface by stating that any errors in this comment on the Dutch manuscript. Their re- work are the responsibility of the author alone. marks and suggestions contributed to the final result and saved me from making several blun- Clé Lesger, ders. During the research, my former colleague Prof. Jan Hein Furnée proved to have a similar Haarlem/Amsterdam, 2019 FOR PRIVATE AND