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The Dutch 'Iliad'

DOUSA, Janus.
Annales rerum a priscis Hollandiae Comitibus per CCC. XLVI. annos gestarum continuatâ serie memoriam complectentes. Nunc primitus in unum metricae historiae corpus redacti, atque in X. libros tributi ac dispartiti. Ad illustres, nobiles, praepotentes, ac vere magnificos Hollandiae Westfrisiaeque ordines.

Woodcut ornament on title, woodcut initials.

The Hague, Aelbrecht Hendricksz., 1599. 4to. Contemporary vellum. Woodcut ornament on title, woodcut initials. (35, 1 blank), 264 pp.

Original edition of these annals in metrical verses in which the history and deeds of the earliest Dutch 'Graven' (Landgraves) are described by the historian and humanist Janus Dousa (1545-1604). The work, written in the form of a heroic poem with extensive marginal notes, and dedicated to the States of Holland and West Friesland is a continuation of Hadrianus Junius' Bataviae of 1588 (published by Dousa), which was the first large chorography of the Northern Netherlands. Dousa's work gives a noble interpretation of the early Middle Ages of The Netherlands, in which the Landgraves who struggled against the Norsemen, were depicted as champions of freedom and founders of an independent nation.

Janus Dousa (Jan van der Does) Lord of Noordwijk, Dutch statesman, historian, poet and philologist, the first Librarian of Leiden University Library and the defender of Leiden, was born in Noordwijk. He began his studies at Lier, became a pupil of Hadrianus Junius at Delft in 1560, and then passed on to Louvain, Douai and Paris. Here he studied Greek under Jean Dorat, professor at the College Royal, and became acquainted with the chancellor L'Hopital, Adrianus Turnebus, Pierre de Ronsard and other eminent men.
In 1569 Dousa published his first collection of poems (epigrams, satires, elegies, etc.). A new collection appeared in 1575. This collection contains (among other poems) five Odae Lugdunenses on the siege of Leiden in which Dousa played an important role.
Dousa's historical work is especially relevant. In 1585, when Dousa was 40 years old, he became the first Librarian at Leiden University Library with a special commission to write a history of Holland. His first accomplishment after his commission in 1585 was the posthumous publication of the work of Hadrianus Junius in 1588. However, his political activities prevented him from finishing his own history within a few years. In 1593 two Epistulae apologeticae were published in which Dousa apologized for the fact that the commissioned work had still not appeared. However, the States of Holland had to wait for their history another six years Inn 1597 Dousa's eldest son passed away, and sorrow kept Dousa from finishing this work until 1599. Finally, the commissioned prose history, Bataviae Hollandiaeque Annales, was published in 1601. Dousa was rewarded by the States of Holland with a golden chain and a medal.

Fine copy.

Typ. Bat. 1626; Adams D-867; Langereis, Geschiedenis als ambacht (2001), p. 51.

Related Subjects: 16th Century History Netherlands Nobility

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