Introduction

The very first history of Dutch literature was already outdated by the time it was finally published. The author, Jacob van Dijk (1745-1828), had completed his Verhandeling over den oorsprong, voortgang en tegenwoordigen staat der Nederduitsche dichtkunst (‘Treatise on the origin, progress and contemporary state of Dutch poetry) in 1792, but the treatise had to wait until 1832 before it appeared in print. During the forty years that van Dijk's literary history remained on the shelves, books had been published by authors who had more right to the claim of being the father of Dutch literary history. In forty years time, van Dijk had disappeared from the centre stage of Dutch literature and from memory, to the extent that ‘in 1826, and even before that, our literary experts ranked him among our deceased Authors’. Within the same forty years the Republic had changed into a Kingdom. In 1792, after the invasion of the Prussians and the counterrevolution, the country had the aspect of a divided nation; in 1832, shortly after the Belgian Uprising, the division had finally come to an end, but the nation was still in ruins and once more in shock.

Oddly enough, it was van Dijk's demise in 1832 that made the publication of the Treatise possible. After his death, van Dijk's life and work received some attention, in one form or another.