Hieronymus Sweerts

Hieronymus Sweerts, whose Koddige en ernstige opschriften, op luyffens, wagens, glazen, uithangborden en andere taferelen (1682) belongs to the Dutch canon, is the author of De Tien Vermakelikheden des Houwelyks, Spots-gewijze beschreven door Hippolitus de Vrye, Weduwenaer. Amsterdam, Jeroen Jeroensz., 1678. It is a sample of Dutch renaissance literature, which describes the snares and entanglements of marriage in a lightly, humoristic way.

The scope of the work is not limited to marriage, but starts from the moment the partners are engaged and describes the subsequent stages, such as engagement, buying furniture, social obligations, pregnancy, preparations for birth, early motherhood, etc. The book is not particularly humourous; to modern readers it is hard to see what would be funny, and the booklet reads more like a treatise on morals surrounding the married state. Much of its content is not very surprising, although it clearly illustrates the origins of some Dutch proverbs. The book is somewhat dull.

De tien vermakelijkheden van het huwelijk was published in the Griffioen series, by Querido publishers to make Dutch classical literature more accessible to the general public. It is published with an explanatory afterword which explains the publication history and significance of the work.

Unfortunately, there is no tradition of publishing classical Dutch literature in the Netherlands. Publishers and Editors seem pedantic and contemptuous of the readership. As a result, very few works are published, and when they are published, they appear in modernized spelling, shortened and without notes. De tien vermakelijkheden van het huwelijk would probably have been a much more interesting publication if it had been published in the original Seventeenth Century Dutch, and with extensive notes.… (meer)