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Early play on one of the greatest historical invents in Dutch history: archetype of poltical murder

HOGENDORP, Gijsbrecht van.
Truer-spel van de moordt begaen aen Wilhem by der Gratie Gods, Prince van Oraengien, etc.

With title-engraving showing Baltasar Gerards shooting William of Orange and his subsequent capture in the background, woodcut initials and the woodcut printer's mark of Paulus van Ravesteyn on final page.

With title-engraving showing Baltasar Gerards shooting William of Orange and his subsequent capture in the background, woodcut initials and the woodcut printer's mark of Paulus van Ravesteyn on final page.

With title-engraving showing Baltasar Gerards shooting William of Orange and his subsequent capture in the background, woodcut initials and the woodcut printer's mark of Paulus van Ravesteyn on final page.

With title-engraving showing Baltasar Gerards shooting William of Orange and his subsequent capture in the background, woodcut initials and the woodcut printer's mark of Paulus van Ravesteyn on final page.

With title-engraving showing Baltasar Gerards shooting William of Orange and his subsequent capture in the background, woodcut initials and the woodcut printer's mark of Paulus van Ravesteyn on final page.



Amsterdam, Paulus van Ravesteyn for Cornelis van der Plasse, 1617. 4to. Later blue paper wrappers. With title-engraving showing Baltasar Gerards shooting William of Orange and his subsequent capture in the background, woodcut initials and the woodcut printer's mark of Paulus van Ravesteyn on final page. (74), (2 blank) pp.

First edition of Gijsbrecht van Hogendorp's free adaptation of Daniel Heinsius' schooldrama Auriacus sive libertas saucia (1602), with the very fine title-engraving. The ten preliminary pages comprise a laudatory dedication, introduction and poems by S. Koster, R. Tella, A. Koning and 'I.A.', ending with a list of the 19 characters of the play. The play re-enacts the events of the shooting of William the Silent (the Dutch 'Father of the fatherland') by Baltasar Gerards in Delft, on the 10th of July, 1584.
Philips II, King of Spain and the Netherlands at the time, put a huge reward on the head of the Prince and Gerards, who thought of the Prince as a traitor to his King, was not the first to attempt to kill William. As a pretext, he arranged to have a word with the Prince, but instead shot him in the chest at a very close range. The victim then spoke his famous final words: "Mijn God, Mijn God, heb medelijden met mijn ziel en met dit arme volk." (My God, My God, have pity on my soul and this poor people). The murderer was captured almost immediately. He was tortured and horribly mutilated before he was beheaded on July 13th, 1584. The bullets he fired are still embedded in the walls of the Prinsenhof.
Though other sources state that Hogendorp's version of the play was first performed in The Hague, in July 1617, Kossmann (1932) has shown that its debut performance was actually at the inauguration of Samuel Coster's famous Nederduytsche Academie in Amsterdam, in September of that year (thus being the first play to be performed at this academy). The play has 5 acts, of which the first 4 end with choral singing. Amongst the characters are 'Feigned Religion', 'Superstition' and 'Inquisition' (2 Jacobean monks). The figures and allegories are for the greater part the same as in Heinsius' earlier version, but Hogendorp did not merely translate the Latin example for his version of the play. The order of the scenes is different.

Good copy.- (Occ. sl. browned; first quire loosening).
Van Aken, Cat. Ned. Toneel, I, p.171; Simoni H 126; F.K.H. Kossmann (ed.), De spelen van Gijsbrecht van Hogendorp (1932), p. XIXff and p. 43-175 (reproducing the complete text of our edition); J.A. Worp, Geschiedenis van het drama en van het tooneel in Nederland, p. 224 and 260-261.

Related Subjects: 16th Century  17th Century  House of Orange  Low Countries  Netherlands  Theatre 

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