Unpublished manuscript with early examples of so-called "Domineespoëzie", or moralistic, nationalistic, and pious poetry written by Dutch ministers ("minister poetry"). The work has been beautifully written and bound, and is still in very good condition, so a lot of care must have been taken in its production. The texts and poems are most likely original, as we have not been able to find them anywhere else.
Both volumes consist of two parts. The first are the "lettervruchten", which include an ode to Hugo Grotius, a text about Christianity, a comparison between Moses and Muhammad, and an oration about Johan van Oldenbarnevelt. The second part, "bloempjes", contains poetry dedicated to friends and family members of the author, in particular his son and wife. Some of the poems are dated, the earliest 1819 and the latest 1822.
Frans Smeer Junior (1793-1852) was a minister in Rotterdam, who also enjoyed writing poetry. Writing poetry was such a popular activity for ministers at the time, that poetry written between 1840-1880 is often called "Domineespoëzie" ("minister poetry"). It is typically strongly moralistic and centres around the themes of family, piety, and nationalism. The same themes can clearly be found in Smeer's work. However, since his work is dated around 1820, it is a relatively early example of the genre.
With a folded leaf inserted in volume 2 containing a manuscript index to the work, possibly by the author. The edges and corners of the boards are somewhat scuffed, the spines have somewhat discoloured, the marbled paper is slightly rubbed and has browned around the edges from the leather. The corners of the end leaves have browned from the leather, some leaves are slightly stained in the outer margins, not affecting the text. Otherwise in good condition.