Weegschaal van het waare en schijn-vermaak. Amsterdam, Johannes Allart, 1786. [Bound with: (2)] Mengelingen van het genootschap Vlijt is de voedster der wetenschappen. Utrecht, Wed. S. de Waal en Zoon, 1789. [and with: (3)] Poëtische mengelingen van het genootschap onder de zinspreuk: Oefening kweekt kunst. Amsterdam, Arend Fokke Sionsz en Jan Jacob Wolters, 1790. [and with: (4)] Mengelpoëzij by T.H.M.F. ter spreuke voerende Studium tempusque musis. Utrecht, Samuel de Waal en Johannes van Driel.

Convolute of three society bundles, preceded by didactic poetry by Anna Catharina Slicher. The Utrecht society ‘Vlijt is de voedster der wetenschappen’, established in 1784, published a poetry bundle in 1786, fully dedicated to poet Jacobus Bellamy who had passed away that same year. In 1789, he published his first and only society bundle, filled with poetry and prose. The members list includes name, place of residency, and sometimes also the profession of the then 41 members. Remarkable is the relatively large number of women (9), the limited number of reverends (3) and the presence of a jew on the list: doctor David Heilbron from The Hague. Mijnhardt calls it a society that, according to the published works, was strongly influenced by the Enlightenment.
Also of ‘Oefening kweekt kunst’, the ‘Poetische mengelingen’ is the only ever published society bundle. In the foreword a bundle of theoretical discourses is promised, supplemented with a small collection of other pieces of prose, but this was probably never published. The only person sure of membership with Oefening kweekt Kunst is the Amsterdam bookseller-publisher and writer Arend Fokke Simonsz, who was also one of the publishers of the bundle.
The final poetry bundle in the convolute is the ‘Mengelpoezy’ by T.H.M.F, representing ‘Studium tempusque musis’, a bundle of partly sentimental, partly light-hearted verses, embellished with six fine etchings. Whether it was written by one or several poets is unknown. Also in the foreword of this bundle, the reader is promised a second part, to be published in the same year, but also in this case that promise would not be fulfilled. L3345