THE BOOKSHOP OF THE WORLD. making and trading books in the dutch golden age
Published in February 2019 - out now in paperback.
The Bookshop of the World. Making and Trading Books in the Dutch Golden Age (London/New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019), co-written with Andrew Pettegree.
In the seventeenth century, the Dutch took fame by storm: a new country, a new way of governing, a new culture. The untold part of this story is the Dutch conquest of the European book world. This was the age of Rembrandt and Vermeer, and Dutch art has always held centre stage; but the Dutch published many more books than pictures, and bought and owned more books per capita than any other part of Europe. Key innovations in marketing, book auctions and newspaper advertising, brought stability to a market where elsewhere in Europe publishers faced bankruptcy: the Dutch made money from books, and created a population uniquely well-informed and politically engaged. This pious, prosperous, quarrelsome and generous people were to a large extent shaped by their books. The story of how this book world came to be is the unacknowledged marvel of the Dutch Golden Age.
translation - DE BOEKHANDEL VAN DE WERELD
The Bookshop of the World is also available in Dutch in a lavishly illustrated edition by Atlas Contact (likewise responsible for the Dutch edition of Andrew Pettegree's Brand Luther).
The translation was undertaken by the journalist and translator Frits van der Waa, who performed a phenomenal job. I had the privilege of reading every chapter as it was translated, and it was a great pleasure to work so closely with Frits.
The second printing of De Boekhandel van de Wereld is now available.
The Dutch translation was chosen as one of the best books of 2019 by Dutch historian Roelof van Gelder.
On tour
In March 2019, Andrew Pettegree and I launched the Dutch edition of The Bookshop at successive events in Amsterdam, Groningen, Leeuwarden, Deventer, Utrecht, Leiden and The Hague.
The launch of The Bookshop of the World in Amsterdam, Monday 18 March
At the launch of The Bookshop of the World in Groningen, Friday 22 March
reviews
Robert Darnton, The New York Review of Books: “an authoritative synthesis … Their work represents book history at its best—and it does so in the face of formidable difficulties.”
Times Literary Supplement: “The Bookshop of the World marshals and moulds a staggering volume of research material and is every bit as diverse, copious and sophisticated as the culture it excavates.”
Times Higher Education: “A richly detailed account of 17th-century Europe’s most important centre of print.”
De Volkskrant: “A rich and deeply impressive study, a fascinating book.”
NRC: “A ground-breaking, astonishing and provocative book.”
De Boekenwereld: “Go to the shop and buy this book, because otherwise you will short-change yourself. And then buy at least one more copy for someone you love.”
Trouw: “A successful, ambitious book.”
Reformatorisch Dagblad: “Pettegree and Der Weduwen uncover the real books of the Dutch Golden Age.”
Holland Historisch Tijdschrift: “Pettegree and Der Weduwen make a superb and most necessary contribution to European cultural history”
The bookshop on radio
On Sunday 24 March I was a guest on OVT, the weekly Dutch history programme on NPO radio 1. Listen below (in Dutch) for a discussion of the book with my hosts, Julie Blussé and Jos Palm.