Enfilade

From Brill:

Bea Brommer, To My Dear Pieternelletje: Grandfather and Granddaughter in VOC Time, 1710–1720 (Leiden: Brill, 2015), ISBN: 978-9004289666, 175€ / $227.

To my dear Pieternelletje describes a ten-year period in the lives of Pieternella van Hoorn and her grandfather Willem van Outhoorn, former governor-general of the Dutch East Indies. Eleven years old, Pieternella left for Amsterdam and the only contact possible was by mail. Numerous letters have survived and combined with contemporaneous documents—most of them never published before—they offer a vivid and clear picture of their private life and feelings, forming a most welcome addition to official VOC-history. Van Outhoorn not only acted as Pieternella’s mentor while she tried to adjust to her new but unknown fatherland, but also sent her numerous exquisite presents, the greater part of which has been traced and described in full, thus offering new insight in the cultural history of Asia.

◊  ◊  ◊  ◊  ◊

C O N T E N T S

Preface
Introduction

Part 1: Pieternella van Hoorn and Willem van Outhoorn
1. My Long-Standing Request for my Release: The first letter
2. Sing the Watch Song
3. Flees and Hottentots: The Cape of Good Hope
4. Your Very Dear and Beloved Father: Batavia
5. What a Wonderfull Country
6. To Invest Our Pennies Securely
7. Tied with a Chinese Silken Bow: Presents for Pieternella
8. Raised in My Small Country Garden: Country Estates around Batavia
9. Some Pins, Needles, and Thread: Grandfather’s Slaves
10. Becoming Quite an Amsterdam Young Lady
11. Those Gentlemen!
12. Not Without Ailments: Medication, Dutch and Asian, The cordial stone
13. My Beloved Grandpapa: Grandfathers’s Burial and Estate

Part II: The Dramaties Personae
1. The Hair Grown Grey: The Van Outhoorn Family: Japanese Lacquer Dishes
2. My Dear Son Johannes: The Van Outhoorn Family
3. The Cold I Cannot Stand Very Well: The Van Riebeeck Family Portraits
4. Personalia

Appendices
Letters of Willem van Outhoorn
Inventory of Willem van Outhoorn, Batavia
Invenotry of Joan van Hoorn, Amsterdam
Inventory of The Van Hoorn Collection

Glossary
Sources
Index