[First edition, 1784-85, women literature] Historie van den Heer Willem Leevend, uitgegeven door E. Bekker, Wed. Ds. Wolff, en A. Deken., first edition, Isaac van Cleef, 's Gravenhage, 1784, 8 vols.

Wolff, Betje & Deken, Aagje.

[First edition, 1784-85, women literature] Historie van den Heer Willem Leevend, uitgegeven door E. Bekker, Wed. Ds. Wolff, en A. Deken., first edition, Isaac van Cleef, ‘s Gravenhage, 1784, 8 vols.

Name: [First edition, 1784-85, women literature] Historie van den Heer Willem Leevend, uitgegeven door E. Bekker, Wed. Ds. Wolff, en A. Deken., first edition, Isaac van Cleef, 's Gravenhage, 1784, 8 vols.
SKU: BB110109
Availability: InStock

Betje Wolff and Aagje Deken wrote books together. Although they led completely different personalities, their characters met in a common world view: both women were critical and did not shy away from (often necessary) sarcasm. They were ruthless observers, possessed a pointed, accurate writing style, and were gifted with great literary talent. In a number of multi-volume epistolary novels, they described the Netherlands of the late eighteenth century and portrayed the Dutch bourgeoisie.

Betje and Aagje first met in October 1776, only a few months after they had first started corresponding. After the death of Betje’s husband, the two women even lived together. In September of 1777 their first joint work was published: Brieven (‘Letters’). Other succesful novels soon followed, for instance Sara Burgerhart, De Historie van mejuffrouw Cornelia Wildschut, and Historie van den heer Willem Leevend.

Aagje Deken died on 14 November 1804, nine days after Betje Wolff. Both women were buried in Scheveningen.

literature – female authors – Betje Wolff – Aagje Deken – novels – first edition literature

[NL] ‘Willem Leevend’ is evenals de eerder verschenen ‘Sara Burgerhart’ en ‘Cornelia Wildschut’ uit 1793 een roman-in-brieven. Buijnsters karakteriseert het als “een zedenspiegel voor de Hollandse burgerij”. Het boek had echter lang niet het succes van ‘Sara Burgerhart’; pas honderd jaar later is het voor het eerst herdrukt.

SKU: BB110109

Half calf skin binding, 22.8 x 14 cm. Foxing, water stains, partly mouldy. Signs of wear.

€ 109,00 (€ 100,00 ex. btw)

In stock