This thesis set out to analyse the eighteenth-century library of Johanna Paauw. If looking at the books in someone's bookcase offers some insight into who they are, what might one conclude on the...Show moreThis thesis set out to analyse the eighteenth-century library of Johanna Paauw. If looking at the books in someone's bookcase offers some insight into who they are, what might one conclude on the basis of Johanna Paauw's bookshelves?Show less
This thesis examines the buying behaviour of Dutch women during the eighteenth century and determines whether a change can be detected in the kinds of works that women bought. The research is based...Show moreThis thesis examines the buying behaviour of Dutch women during the eighteenth century and determines whether a change can be detected in the kinds of works that women bought. The research is based on the female customers that came to Luchtmans, an academic bookshop in Leiden, and thus the main source of this study is the extensive archive that the firm has left behind. At the start of the eighteenth century, a wealthy mother primarily visited the shop to purchase school books for her young children. However, as the century progressed, an increasing number of unmarried women came to buy newspapers and novels, as they had more freedom to pursue their own interests. Although these women were certainly not representative of the general female population in Leiden, an interesting shift presented itself when comparing women from two time periods in the eighteenth century.Show less
This edition contains 26 letters from the Doesburg Letter Collection (1777 -1822) focusing on its female correspondents. The letters give an exceptional insight into the personal lives of men and...Show moreThis edition contains 26 letters from the Doesburg Letter Collection (1777 -1822) focusing on its female correspondents. The letters give an exceptional insight into the personal lives of men and women from all layers of the population in a time in Dutch history that was marked by almost constant war and the subsequent political, social and economic changes that came with these conflicts. Many of the letters are signed by women, which make the letter collection a rare source, since not many writings have been preserved from women living in this period, especially not from the lower class. For this reason, this edition focuses entirely on the female correspondence of the collection. The letters for this edition were chosen based on their geographic variation in order to give a broad picture not only of the lives of women from Doesburg, but from all over the Netherlands in the regarding period. To place the letters into context, this edition includes: an overview of the history of the Netherlands and Doesburg in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, of reading and writing in the Low Countries, of the position of women in the Netherlands, and provides a sketch of the Dutch postal system between 1777-1822.Show less
