L. Kuitert

The Publication of Anne Frank’s Diary

[Anne Frank’s diary is probably the most famous book ever published in Dutch. Since its appearance as Het Achterhuis in 1947 it has been translated into many languages and still sells in vast numbers all over the world. Now that the Anne Frank Stichting has opened Otto Franks archives to researchers and it has been possible to investigate the publishers archives, the Diarys printing history in the Netherlands — hitherto untold because archive material was either inaccessible or had yet to be discovered — is told here for the first time., Anne Frank’s diary is probably the most famous book ever published in Dutch. Since its appearance as Het Achterhuis in 1947 it has been translated into many languages and still sells in vast numbers all over the world. Now that the Anne Frank Stichting has opened Otto Franks archives to researchers and it has been possible to investigate the publishers archives, the Diarys printing history in the Netherlands — hitherto untold because archive material was either inaccessible or had yet to be discovered — is told here for the first time.]

The Literary Agent as 'Broker': A Case Study on the Latin American 'Boom' and the Book Market in the Netherlands

The article addresses the agents active in the ‘boom’ of Latin American literature in the Netherlands. Initially, the interest in Latin American literature was very limited in the Netherlands. Spanish writers were more popular. On the basis of bibliographical information, one can clearly see how quickly this situation changed. Meulenhoff has become the most important publisher for these authors. However, the archive of the Prins & Prins literary agency reveal how the introduction came about, and focuses on the specific merits of the use of a literary agent.

Women’s Series — by Women, for Women?

Between 1850 and 1900, Dutch publishers brought out a good three hundred series.1 Many of these were embellished with the inscription ‘Library’, conveying the suggestion of a well chosen collection of handsome bindings. This way of publishing proved an effective method of approaching specific target groups. A series is more than the sum of its parts: this was the idea that publishers tried to convey to consumers. In the nineteenth century — how sadly different from today — books had not yet become throwaway products, and a series was thus a serious business. In theory, a literary series was seen as a select literary collection, each part being essential to the whole. Most of the literary series published in the second half of the nineteenth century were cheap, but they were generally beautifully produced. Publishers tended to imitate foreign successes, such as Everyman’s Library and the Tauchnitz Collection of British and American Authors.

Publishing house Contact and its support for authors in the Second Word War

The name of publishing house Contact is associated with Anne Franks diary, of which Contact was the first publisher. In this article, Lisa Kuitert shows how Contact, established in 1933, operated during the Second World War. Although Contact was not a publisher for the resistance, both of its publishing directors, in various ways, supported authors who had been banned from publishing. The means also existed for them to do this because precisely in these five years, the publisher did well financially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR].

Schrijven per nummer: een populair literair medium in de negentiende eeuw

In her article, Lisa Kuitert discusses a relatively new publishing strategy in the 19th century, that of publishing novels in monthly or weekly issues. When the last instalment had been published, the episodes were often bound in one volume, which makes it hard to trace the original appearance of the edition. Instalments were profitable for publishers and readers, as well as for the authors. They also seem to have had some effect on the literary texts themselves.