Children's books as a commodity: The rise of a new literary subsystem in the eighteenth-century Dutch republic

Abstract

This article describes the rise of a new literary subsystem, that of children's books, as an integral part of the Dutch literary field. An analysis was made of the strategies of 18th-century Dutch publishers of children's books. Data on booksellers' lists, patents, and other historic sources, especially newspaper advertisements, made it possible to qualify current assumptions and to describe in more detail the production and consumption of children's books as a subsystem of the Dutch literary field. Although the Dutch literary market was fairly small, this did not prevent it from producing a substantial number of children's books. Developments in the production of children's books kept pace with those in Germany, and the number of translations in the overall supply was not predominant. The relative increase in supply during the 1760s makes this period the historical starting point of the advance of the Dutch children's book. Towards the end of the 18th century, Dutch fiction genres appear to be less dominant than in Germany. Traditional categories like religious works are still on a par with relatively new genres for children like almanacs and periodicals, which focused more on entertainment. By analysing the content of advertisements, it is possible to show how publishers tried to reconcile commercial interests and ideological motives.