De Achttiende Eeuw< 30 (1998) 1
Paul van Gestel
'The
corruptions of Christianity'
Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) and the Dutch Enlightenment
In this
article the author studies the reception of the History of the corruptions
of Christianity (1782) by the British theologian and scientist Joseph
Priestley, and its Dutch translations (1784, 1787). In the Corruptions
Priestly attacks elements in the Christian doctrine, like the Trinity,
predestination, and atonement, which in his opinion are at variance
with the views of the early Christians, and for a large part full of
internal contradictions, and contrary to reason. In Dordrecht fines
were imposed on the publisher, the printer, and two booksellers, because
they were involved in the production of this socinian book. At the provincial
synod delegates expressed their wish for a society which would organize
competitions for denouncing unorthodox literature; and in The Hague
'The Society for Defending the Christian Religion' was founded in 1785.
The publication of the essays against Priestley's Corruptions gave
rise to a lively debate, which the Dutch press followed with interest.
The book was banned in The Hague in 1785, and in Haarlem in 1789. In
the latter town Priestley was asked to participate in the Dutch Society
of Sciences; subsequently, one of its directors gave up his post by
way of protest against Priestley's heresy. Most reactions display a
great fear of the possible impact of the Corruptions.
In connection with this the author of the article points to Priestley's
celebrity status as a natural philosopher, the great importance of the
physical sciences in both theology and culture, and the priority given
by many people to morality over dogmatism in the Dutch Republic towards
the end of the Age of Enlightenment. Patriots, many of whom had read
Priestley's Essay on the first principles of government (1768),
and dissenters especially valued the Corruptions.
omhoog
Thomas von
der Dunk
To reign is to ignore. Building a new clubhouse for Doctrina et
Amicitia in Amsterdam.
In the
summer of 1787 the Patriotic National Society (Vaderlandsche Sociëtiet)
in Amsterdam, founded four years earlier, took the initiative to acquire
an accommodation of their own on the Kalverstraat. To begin with a new
back part of the house was being built, but in the autumn this work
was brought to a standstill, consequent upon the Restoration of the
Orangist regime; whereas by order of the city government the Society
itself was dissolved. Even so, its members just founded a new society,
Doctrina et Amicitia, which simply took over the unfinished premises
in the Kalverstraat and completed the back part of the building in 1790.
This new society pretended, to be sure, to focus on purely scientific
and cultural subjects, yet in its aim and practice it proved to be to
a high degree a cover for pursuing subversive politics. The magistrate
was aware of this, but because of the lack of concrete proofs they did
not dare to intervene, just like the States of Holland, who were consulted
by the magistrate. They felt that the most sensible policy would be
to tolerate the existence of Doctrina,- an approach which
is of old very characteristic for the political culture of the Netherlands,
which is a country of minorities, none of which is able by means of
power actually to impose its will wholly on the others - and does not
want to do so either, for the sake of internal peace.
When Doctrina et Amicitia had implemented its political aim with
the Batavian Revolution in 1795, it changed its actual task-setting
and only now really focused on scientific subjects. Because in the meantime
the old foremost part of the house had fallen into decay it was decided
in 1802 to rebuild it. The way in which the board of directors handled
this issue was again, albeit in a different way, characteristic for
the Dutch political culture, in which from old a strong emphasis is
put on participation. Being democrats, they could not avoid consulting
the members; however, being administrators, they also wanted to obtain
some results. This resulted in a kind of controlled democracy, which
safeguarded the illusion of the members that the decision was theirs,
whereas the board of directors was protected against the risk that their
plan would be rejected. Following this, a collection could be started
among the members for defraying the costs of the building; in this the
individual members of the board themselves did not feel a personal obligation
to contribute for decency's sake more than what was in their position
the absolute minimum, - this also reveals a typically Dutch characteristic.
omhoog
Sofie Cerruti
Illegal book trade around 1791. Paape's biography of William V, or how
a bookseller found himself in the rasp house.
In 1791
an exceptionally radical biography of Stadholder Willem V appeared at
the publishing company of Pierre la Fage in Dunkirk: Het leven van
Willem V &c., bederver van zijn vaderland. (The life of William
V, corruptor of his fatherland). Although the name of the author was
kept carefully secret, it can hardly be doubted that the writer was
Gerrit Paape, who lived in exile since 1787. In spite of the strict
censorship in the Netherlands in 1791, the book was smuggled from Dunkirk
through Brabant and Rotterdam to Amsterdam, where a reckless bookseller,
called Jan Verlem, sold it under the counter. Verlem was a rather radical
Patriotic bookseller. who several times previously had been convicted
for publishing subversive periodicals. For the sale of this satirical
biography he was sentenced to as much as six years of imprisonment.
An interesting aspect of the 1791 trial of Verlem is the fact that several
different paths cross here: of the banished writers in Northern France
and the Patriot booksellers still staying in the Netherlands; the contacts
between them survived the high risks, and the books continued to be
published. The case files demonstrate that Verlem was indeed a vital
link in a network of Patriot writers and booksellers in the Netherlands
and abroad, which provided a continuous flow of illegal books. Among
Verlem's connections, to name but a few, were the publishers Krap &
De Leeuw in Dordrecht, De Wildt & Altheer in Utrecht, Leeuwenstijn
in The Hague, and De la Croix in Dunkirk.
This article deals partly with the process against Jan Verlem and his
background as an illegal bookseller, and partly with the book that caused
such a great amount of controversy: Paape's satirical biography of William
V. The case reveals a small part of the illegal scene of Patriot authors
and publishers/booksellers, which existed in the Netherlands and abroad
in a period when the oppression of the Patriots was at its peak.
omhoog
Pierre Delsaerdt
& Dries Vanysacker
Buying and inheriting books. The private libraries of the Antwerp canon
Petrus Knyff (1713-1784) and his father Jacobus (1681-1756).
In this
article the private library of the Antwerp canon Petrus Knyff, a member
of a rich and politically influential Antwerp family, will be discussed.
Knyff studied canonical and civil law at the Louvain university, and
became a canon at the cathedral of Antwerp. His library was put up for
auction in Antwerp in 1785; several copies of the printed catalogue
are still extant.
Petrus Knyff was the son of Jacobus Knyff (d. 1756), who had been a
member of the city council, but after the death of his wife became a
canon at the cathedral of Antwerp. A post mortem inventory of
his possessions, preserved in the archives of the city of Antwerp and
dated 1756, contains also the particulars about his library. The collection
of books was divided into three parts, each of which was assigned to
one of his three sons. Supplementary archival evidence goes to show
that his son Petrus not only inherited a third part of the books, but
also bought the other two thirds from his brothers Joannes and Michael.
When one compares the inventory of this library with the auction catalogue
of Petrus' own library one can identify the titles of the books Petrus
inherited from his father (the so-called 'passive' library), as well
as his own acquisitions (the 'active' library). From the latter (70%
of the books enumerated in the auction catalogue) it becomes clear that
Knyff was an enthusiastic collector of the great authors of the Enlightenment,
of political essays and of the 'forbidden bestsellers' of his time.
On the other hand, however, he also continued to pay attention to some
of his father's fields of study, like church history, history of the
Netherlands, and biology.
omhoog
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