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Early modern literary careers are generally perceived as progressive: inadequate young authors gradually develop their literary skills and knowledge while growing old. In this article, we analyse how young authorship and career development of early modern Dutch women writers was represented in front matter in their literary print-publications. We demonstrate that front matter’s praise of young women’s authorship was connected to both male and female flavoured qualities. These qualities turn out to be connected to the ways in which female careers were represented. When young female authorship was mainly legitimated by referring to intellectual capacities considered typically masculine, the women’s career is perceived as progressive. However: when this legitimation is rather based on qualities considered as typically feminine, such as virtuousness and handiwork skills, the women’s authorship at an early age is sometimes represented as already fully-grown and complete.

This article argues that it is both important and viable to develop a diachronic perspective on the profits of literary authors in the Low Countries. Up to now, conceptual and theoretical boundaries between different subdisciplines within Dutch literary studies have resulted in a compartmentalized, fragmentary narrative of the economic, social and symbolic profits of literary authors throughout the centuries. On the basis of a survey of the theoretical frameworks dominant in the subdisciplines of medieval, early modern and modern Dutch literature, we highlight the opportunities and difficulties for a diachronic perspective on financial advancement, focusing both on practice and discourse. In addition, we propose a schematic model that tries to overcome the difficulties and enables us to profit from the opportunities. This proposal allows for a sharper focus on both the practice of and discourse on literary authors’ economic gain from a diachronic perspective.

This article presents the first diachronic overview of the economic, social and symbolic profits of ‘city poets’ (‘stadsdichters’) in the Low Countries. From the early fifteenth century onwards, there have been many (more or less) official relationships between city councils and poets. The prominence and the form of these relationships, however, diverged greatly in different periods: whereas official appointments were the standard in the fifteenth, sixteenth and the twenty-first centuries, the period in between saw a much more diverse landscape of informal appointments and relationships. After presenting a historical overview of the role of city poets throughout the centuries, this article focuses on two well-documented periods in which formal agreements were made between town governments and poets: the late Middle Ages and the start of the 21st century. We analyze political and financial agreements explicitly in relationship to the complexities surrounding the production of city poetry. City poetry, paid by public money, is bound to be controversial: in general because its status is subject to changes and political discussions, but also because this form of commissioned poetry is sometimes seen as a form of propaganda. Official city poetry seems to flourish most in societies with a stable political-religious climate (as in the Southern Low Countries in the fifteenth and sixteenth century) and/or with a keen interest in city marketing (as in Flanders and the Netherlands in the twenty-first century).

This article presents the first diachronic overview of the economic, social and symbolic profits of ‘city poets’ (‘stadsdichters’) in the Low Countries. From the early fifteenth century onwards, there have been many (more or less) official relationships between city councils and poets. The prominence and the form of these relationships, however, diverged greatly in different periods: whereas official appointments were the standard in the fifteenth, sixteenth and the twenty-first centuries, the period in between saw a much more diverse landscape of informal appointments and relationships. After presenting a historical overview of the role of city poets throughout the centuries, this article focuses on two well-documented periods in which formal agreements were made between town governments and poets: the late Middle Ages and the start of the 21st century. We analyze political and financial agreements explicitly in relationship to the complexities surrounding the production of city poetry. City poetry, paid by public money, is bound to be controversial: in general because its status is subject to changes and political discussions, but also because this form of commissioned poetry is sometimes seen as a form of propaganda. Official city poetry seems to flourish most in societies with a stable political-religious climate (as in the Southern Low Countries in the fifteenth and sixteenth century) and/or with a keen interest in city marketing (as in Flanders and the Netherlands in the twenty-first century).

Throughout the centuries, many literary authors were engaged in writing theatre plays. Although there are many studies about the theatre business in general from Medieval Times to the present, the perspective of the playwright’s profits is seldom taken into consideration. This article presents both a survey of author’s options to gain an income in the world of theatre and an analysis of the discourse about this advancement. More specifically, on the basis of a comparison of cases from the seventeenth century on the one hand and the nineteenth and twentieth centuries on the other, this article argues that, despite the fact that for playwrights, as much as for other literary authors, it was a taboo to be open about economic profits, developments in the organization of institutional theatre created temporary openings for (public debate about) financial rewards.

Patronage was a common practice for many early modern authors, but it was a public activity involving engagement with politics, politicians and the rich and famous, and we know of relatively few women writers who profited from the benefits of patronage. The system of patronage altered, however, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and one particular case study brings to light some of the possibilities and difficulties of this system for women writers. Elisabeth Hoofman (1664–1736) was a Dutch poet whose authorship was representative of that of many writing women around 1700: born in a rich family, she wrote poetry in order to establish and consolidate contacts in a wealthy circle of friends and family, refusing to publish any of her poems. Her authorship status seems to have changed, though, after she and her husband lost their fortune and turned to rich patrons to secure their living. The circle of people addressed in her poetry broadened to powerful men from outside of her intimate network and she started to print-publish. In this chapter, Hoofman’s opportunities to contribute to the family income as a woman writer along with her ability and necessity to manage her reputation are analysed with and through her poetry.

Patronage was a common practice for many early modern authors, but it was a public activity involving engagement with politics, politicians and the rich and famous, and we know of relatively few women writers who profited from the benefits of patronage. The system of patronage altered, however, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and one particular case study brings to light some of the possibilities and difficulties of this system for women writers. Elisabeth Hoofman (1664–1736) was a Dutch poet whose authorship was representative of that of many writing women around 1700: born in a rich family, she wrote poetry in order to establish and consolidate contacts in a wealthy circle of friends and family, refusing to publish any of her poems. Her authorship status seems to have changed, though, after she and her husband lost their fortune and turned to rich patrons to secure their living. The circle of people addressed in her poetry broadened to powerful men from outside of her intimate network and she started to print-publish. In this chapter, Hoofman’s opportunities to contribute to the family income as a woman writer along with her ability and necessity to manage her reputation are analysed with and through her poetry.

Samenvatting – Amsterdamse dichters uit de zeventiende eeuw toonden zich in lofdichten en tableaux vivants betrokken bij hun stad, de stedelijke overheid en het beleid van die overheid. Ze werden daarbij gestimuleerd door de stadsregenten, die als patronen optraden. Sommige dichters konden zo stadsdichter worden, zonder dat deze functie geïnstitutionaliseerd was. Een van de Amsterdamse 'stadsdichters' was Jan Vos (1610-1667). Dit artikel laat zien hoe hij zijn positie als stadsdichter ondersteunde door zijn gedichten, waarin hij niet alleen de stad, maar ook zichzelf promootte, en bovendien onderstreepte dat hij ook iets terugverwachtte van de stadsregenten.

A Polyphonic Story. Authorship in the Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse literatuur Authorship is a ‘trending topic’ in literary studies: specialists from all periods and languages have published widely on various topics such as posture, self-fashioning, and autonomy. This contribution investigates how these recent debates found their way into the new series of literary histories published on behalf of the Taalunie since 2006 (GNL). We discuss this matter along three lines. First, we show that in the different parts of the GNL there are multiple, sometimes contradicting notions of development of authorship. After that, we demonstrate that there does not seem to be a shared terminology: different scholars use words like ‘broodschrijver’ (hack-writer) with dissimilar meanings and connotations. Finally, it is noted that the writers of GNL-volumes do not have the same ideas about how to deal with authorial (re-)presentation in literary texts. We conclude that, although the editors aimed for a series based on shared starting points, there is not a single narrative about authorship in the GNL-series.

The poetry by Jan Vos (amsterdam, 1610-1667) is known for its focus on the arts. Scholars have claimed that this was out of Vos's personal interest and that he was on friendly terms with many painters. This article argues that Vos's poetic concern with the arts is rather a consequence of his relationship of patronage with the Amsterdam city regents. This appears from an anlysis of Vos's epigrams about portratis and other paintings; an anlysis of the long epic poem "Strydt tusschen de Doodt en Natuur, of Zeege der Schilderkunst (1654); and of the poems in which Vos addresses individual painters.

Love is a conqueror and a violator. When a bride is captured by Love, pity arises instead of jealousy or admiration. These are not themes one expects to encounter in a poem written to commemorate the cheerful occasion of marriage. Yet in some of the nuptial poems by the Dutch poet Katharina Lescailje these are dominant themes. How did a Dutch woman poet manage to appropriate the genre of nuptial poetry at the end of the seventeenth century, while dealing with both the possibilities and restrictions of the literary and social conventions she was exposed to? This chapter aims to answer this question by giving an overview of the poems Lescailje wrote for different groups of addressees, focusing on her use of classical and - more importantly - contemporary conventions. It compares Lescailje's nuptial poetry to that of other Dutch women poets. Keywords: Dutch woman poets; Katharina Lescailje; nuptial poetry