Feestneuzen, of bij de neus genomen?

Abstract

This article investigates ‘nose books’ (neusboekjes) and their social functions in the Early Modern Low Countries. Nose books are short literary texts written in the form of joyful ordinances that can be found in bound volumes (Sammelbände). These volumes contain a number of separately printed works, such as almanacs, prognostications and popular texts, which were subsequently bound together. Unlike previous studies, which have largely considered nose books as purely entertaining, this article demonstrates that nose books were initially sold as a form of political satire. As such, they encouraged societal engagement. However, over the course of the eighteenth century, the political undertone of nose books was no longer part of people’s reading experiences. These later readers appreciated the parody of the official ordinance instead.