Bredero’s Klucht van de molenaar in twee vroege drukken

Abstract

Abstract This contribution focuses on two editions of G.A. Bredero’s Klucht van de molenaar (Farce of the miller), written in 1613. It illustrates that the first edition of 1618 (by publisher-bookseller Niclaes Verberg) contains different words, half lines and in one case even whole lines that are missing or changed in comparison with the second edition of 1619. This is what Bredero’s regular publisher Cornelis vander Plasse claims himself. Bredero’s play is written in a vernacular-like style resembling the variety spoken in Amsterdam at the time. The analysis of the two editions on the representation of dialect in a written form leads to a number of notable observations. In the 1619 edition all characters have a relatively stronger dialect than in the first edition, except in a few striking scenes. The opening monologue and the moralising end of the play offer dialect variants that are slightly more refined in the 1619 edition of this play.