De Achttiende Eeuw 41 (2009) nr.2
Tom De Roo
'Kanarieliefhebberij in de achttiende eeuw – op het kruispunt van wetenschap en vrije tijd?'
This article argues how eighteenth-century canary-curiosity sits firmly on the crossroads of science and leisure, with both aspects joined together through commercialisation. The word ‘curiosity’ denotes a healthy scientific interest in the intricacies of the natural world, this being both an early modern tradition and an enlightened ideal. In addition, the early eighteenth-century literary sources on canaries show a certain scientific value in their methods and digressions. Yet there is also ample evidence for the leisure element through references to recreational benefits as well as affinities with ‘typical’ leisure activities.
The specialised literature offers as wide a public as possible an easy way into the keeping of canaries. This democratisation of canary-curiosity serves to make money for a variety of retailers: it is commercialisation that links science to leisure. Firstly, the printers and authors of canary-literature ride on an ever expanding wave of popularised books on science and leisure, offering knowledge for sale at a broad range of prices and of varying quality. The canary-literature evolves accordingly: from a small number of thick and thorough works at the start of the century, to a larger number of smaller, cheaper and ever more superficial booklets and sections in all-round leisure books towards the 1900s. Secondly, retailers of bird paraphernalia and professional breeders – though often loathed as being ‘not really curious’ – offer every possible element required by the average person to start his or her canary-fancy, from cheap and common birds and cages to exclusive canary varieties and conspicuous birdhouses. Authors/printers of canary-literature and sellers of birds and accessories are sometimes even the same people, thereby ensuring that literary communication promotes commercial business. ‘Do-it-yourself’ is put forward as a legitimate way into the canary-curiosity for the less affluent or the passionate amateurs, although it only applies to some aspects and thus still requires professional providers for what one can’t produce oneself.
The increasingly professionalised leisure-oriented market undoubtedly satisfies a demand engendered by an enlightened interest in nature, but it also increases it through a lowering of the material and socio-cultural thresholds for the keeping of canaries. This particular evolution typifies the eighteenth century as a time of intensifying commercialisation. It appears to allow an ever expanding group of people to come into contact with popularised knowledge. Its influence on the democratisation of leisure and science and their intertwining should not be underestimated.
Matthias Meirlaen
'Het verhaal van de moraal: universele en nationale geschiedenis in de Zuid-Nederlandse colleges na de Theresiaanse onderwijshervorming (1777-1789)'
Much earlier than elsewhere in Western Europe, history appeared as a compulsory, autonomous subject in the secondary school curricula in the Southern Low Countries. In 1777, during the Austrian regime, a national educational reform prescribed the education of history in every secondary school. According to the programme of this reform, the history course had to contain lessons of both universal and national history. In this article, the relation between these two types of history is discussed. First of all, the different historiographical traditions of universal and national history are examined. Secondly, the narratives of the recommended textbooks are compared with one another. And finally, the way teachers dealt with universal and national history in everyday school practice is explored. Concerning the latter, this article especially wants to prove that, despite their different narrative traditions and schemes, universal and national history were closely connected in the classroom. In the eyes of the teachers, both had to be instructed in order to train the pupils’ moral.
Tanja Simons
'‘Ik heb ook nu niet uijt mij alderbest geschreven.’ Achttiende-eeuwse brievenboekjes en de gekaapte brieven van Aagje Luijtsen'
In the 18th century the Netherlands experienced a boom in all kinds of educational literature. Among these were so-called correspondence manuals, small books that gave instructions on how to write personal letters and provided models of them. Up till now it was not quite clear for whom these manuals were intended. However, it is known that in the highest ranks of society epistolary etiquette was passed on from generation to generation. So perhaps these books were mainly meant for and used by the middle and lower classes. This article gives a short description of five such manuals (and one related to the genre). Subsequently twenty letters, written between 1776 and 1780 by a young woman called Aagje Luijtsen, are examined for traces of the rules provided by the manuals. Furthermore the opening and closing formulas that Aagje uses in her letters are compared with those that are used in the model letters.
Matthijs Wieldraaijer
'De sensibele stadhouder en de gedisciplineerde gouvernante. Beelden van Willem IV en Anna van Hannover in preken.'
When William IV of Orange died in 1751 and his wife Anne of Hanover in 1759 they were both eulogised by a great number of Reformed ministers from the pulpit. In this article images of William and Anne as they appear in these funeral sermons will be analyzed. In the following I have confined myself mainly to the role gender played in selecting the virtues ascribed to the deceased by the Reformed clergymen. I will argue that due to changing conceptions both of stadholderate and of masculinity and femininity, William is portrayed as a sensitive, well-educated bureaucrat and Anne as a sensible, talented and disciplined mother and stateswoman.
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