Jacob Van Lennep

Jacob van Lennep (24 March 1802 – 25 August 1868) was a Dutch poet and novelist.

Early years

He was born in Amsterdam, where his father, David Jacob van Lennep (1774–1853), a scholar and poet, was professor of eloquence and the classical languages in the Atheneum. He spent his summers at Huis te Manpad, where his family had a summer home, and where his father convinced the Heemstede city council to place a monument to Witte van Haemstede. This colorful monument influenced him to later write a song about it. Lennep took the degree of doctor of laws at Leiden, and then settled as an advocate in Amsterdam.

Poetry

His first poetical efforts had been translations from Byron, of whom he was an ardent admirer, and in 1826 he published a collection of original ''Academische Idyllen'' cademic Idylls which had some success.

Historical fiction

He first attained genuine popularity by the ''Nederlandsche Legenden'' he Legends of the Netherlands(2 vols., 1828) which reproduced, after the manner of Sir Walter Scott, some of the more stirring incidents in the early history of his fatherland. His fame was further raised by his patriotic songs at the time of the Belgian revolution, and by his comedies ''Het Dorp aan de Grenzen'' he Village at the Borders(1830) and ''Het Dorp over de Grenzen'' he Village Over the Borders(1831), which also had reference to the political events of 1830. In 1832 he became member of the Royal Institute, which later became the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

In 1833 he broke new ground with the publication of ''De Pleegzoon'' he Adopted Son the first of a series of historical romances in prose, which acquired for him in the Netherlands a position somewhat analogous to that of Sir Walter Scott in Great Britain. The series included ''De Roos van Dekama'' he Rose of Dekama(2 vols., 1836), ''Onze Voorouders'' ur Ancestors(5 vols., 1838). ''De Lotgevallen van Ferdinand Huyck'' he Adventures of Ferdinand Huyck(2 vols, 1840), Elizabeth Musch (3 vols., 1850), and ''De Lotgevallen van Klaasje Zevenster'' he Adventures of Klaasje Zevenster(5 vols., 1865), several of which have been translated into German and French, and two — ''The Rose of Dekama'' (1847) and ''The Adopted Son'' (New York, 1847) into English.

His Dutch history for young people (''De voornaamste geschiedenissen van Noord-Nederland, aan zijne kinderen verhaald'' he Chief Events of the North Netherlands, narrated to His Children 4 vols, 1845) is attractively written. Apart from the two comedies already mentioned, van Lennep was an indefatigable journalist and literary critic, the author of numerous dramatic pieces, and of an excellent edition of Vondel's works. For some years, van Lennep held a judicial appointment, and from 1853 to 1856 he was a member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament, in which he voted with the conservative party. He died at Oosterbeek near Arnhem in 1868.

There is a collective edition of his ''Poetische Werken'' oetic Works(13 vols., 1859–1872), and also of his ''Romantische Werken'' omantic Works(23 vols., 1855 r872). See also a bibliography by P. Knoll (1869); and Jan ten Brink, ''Geschiedenis der Noord-Nederlandsche Letteren in de XIX Eeuw'' istory of the Literature of the Northern Netherlands in the Nineteenth Century No. iii.

References

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External links

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''The Rose of Dekama''
translated from the Dutch by Frank Woodley in 1847. The story is based on the historic Battle of Warns.

Information about Jacob van Lennep in the digital library of Dutch Literature - DBNL

Website based on TV Series (in Dutch) that retraces walks through the Netherlands based on his diaries

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lennep, Jacob van
Dutch male poets
Dutch male novelists
1802 births
1868 deaths
Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Writers from Amsterdam
19th-century Dutch poets
19th-century Dutch novelists
19th-century Dutch male writers