The ''Hollandsche Spectator'' (lit. "Dutch Spectator") was an important

Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language and is the List of languages by total number of speak ...

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

(or an early

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

) of the

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

period.Willem Frijhoff, Marijke Spies, ''Dutch Culture in a European Perspective: 1800, blueprints for a national community / Joost Kloek and Wijnand Mijnhardt with the collaboration of Eveline Koolhaas-Grosfeld'', Uitgeverij Van Gorcum, 2004,
Google Print, p.394
/ref> It was founded by

Justus van Effen Justus van Effen (21 February 1684 – 18 September 1735) was a Dutch writer, who wrote chiefly in French but also made crucial contributions to Dutch literature. A journalist, he imitated ''The Spectator'' with the publication of the Dutch-lang ...

, who was inspired by the British ''

Spectator ''Spectator'' or ''The Spectator'' may refer to: *Spectator sport, a sport that is characterized by the presence of spectators, or watchers, at its matches *Audience Publications Canada * '' The Hamilton Spectator'', a Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, ...

'' of

Joseph Addison Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 May 1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician. He was the eldest son of Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend Richard Steele, with w ...

and

Richard Steele Sir Richard Steele ( – 1 September 1729) was an Anglo-Irish writer, playwright and politician best known as the co-founder of the magazine ''The Spectator (1711), The Spectator'' alongside his close friend Joseph Addison. Early life Steel ...

.A.J. Hanou
Dutch periodicals from 1697 to 1721: in imitation of the English?
/ref> Justus van Effen was a government official, author and translator, and had previous experience as a publisher of several French-language magazines (''

Le Misanthrope ''The Misanthrope, or the Cantankerous Lover'' (; ) is a 17th-century comedy of manners in verse written by Molière. It was first performed on 4 June 1666 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris by the King's Players. The play satirizes the ...

'' (1711-1712) - a widely read journal referred to as "the first moralist periodical on the continent",Harold W. Streeter, ''The Eighteenth Century English Novel in French Translation'', Ayer Publishing, 1972,
Google Print, p.13-14
/ref>Joris van Eijnatten, ''Liberty and concord in the United Provinces: religious toleration and the public in the eighteenth-century Netherlands'', BRILL, 2003, 9004128433
Google Print, p.418-419
/ref> '' Le Bagatelle'' (1718-1719), and '' Le Spectateur Français'' (1725)). The ''Hollandsche Spectator'' was published in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

by Uytwerf Hermanus. It first appeared weekly, then twice a week. About 360 editions were published between August 20, 1731, and April 8, 1735.W.J.B Pienaar, ''English Influences in Dutch Literature and Justus Van Effen as Intermediary'', Cambridge University Press, 1929,
Google Print, p.145-146
/ref> Effen's death in 1735 was soon followed by the closure of the newspaper. However, it has inspired dozens of successors. It was one of the most notable papers inspired by ''The Spectator'', in which the spectator, literally "observer", is the mask behind which the author hides his views; often the anonymous authors claimed that he is not a person but a group. The topics of the ''Hollandsche Spectator'' consisted of everything that would interest a

coffeehouse A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

audience: politics, religion and morality, fashion, and humor. Socially conservative, written in a pleasing tone and style, it raised important questions, such as the reasons behind the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

's waning position on the international scene, and served as literary and moral guide for the emerging Dutch

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and aristocracy. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...

. It also opened the market for newspapers and magazines in the

. The publishing of the ''Hollandsche Spectator'' is considered one of the most valuable achievements of the late 18th-century

Dutch literature Dutch-language literature () comprises all writings of literary merit written through the ages in the Dutch language, a language which currently has around 23 million native speakers. Dutch-language literature is the product of the Netherlands, ...

, and an inspiration to much Dutch journalism and literature.Hanna Barker, Simon Burrows, ''Press, Politics and the Public Sphere in Europe and North America, 1760-1820'', Cambridge University Press, 2002,
Google Print, p.53
/ref>Cornelis W. Schoneveld, ''Sea-changes: studies in three centuries of Anglo-Dutch cultural transmission'', Rodopi, 1996,
Google Print, p.84
/ref>Theo Hermans, ''A Literary History of the Low Countries'', Camden House, 2009,
Google Print, p.312
/ref>Willem Frijhoff, Marijke Spies, ''Dutch Culture in a European Perspective: 1800, blueprints for a national community / Joost Kloek and Wijnand Mijnhardt with the collaboration of Eveline Koolhaas-Grosfeld'', Uitgeverij Van Gorcum, 2004,
Google Print, p.150
/ref>

References

External links

''Hollandsche Spectator'', Volume 1; Volume 5
K. Van Tongerloo, 1756 (Google Print - public domain) {{Authority control Defunct newspapers published in the Netherlands Publications established in 1731 Publications disestablished in 1735 Dutch-language newspapers Mass media in Amsterdam Weekly newspapers published in the Netherlands

See also

References

External links