The 17th century Dutch Republic was a fascinating arena of human interactions, from the people who explored the oceans in search of riches or meaning, to loved ones who stayed behind or recorded stories on paper or canvas. These inhabitants of the 17th century Dutch world provided a rich microcosm of the human experience, on which we now look back with voyeuristic curiosity and fascination.

I am a student of 17^th century Dutch history with a special interest in the 17^th century Dutch language. My interest in 17th century Dutch developed when I stumbled upon the colony of New Netherland, the colorful Dutch settlement that became New York. Though I had learned to speak Dutch as an American while living in the Netherlands for four years, studying 17th century Dutch for historical research presented yet another challenge. Much about the language was different—the orthography, syntax, punctuation (or lack of it), old writing conventions as well as changed word meanings, not to mention those persistent Dutch idioms. Then, there was the formidable task of deciphering old handwritten documents and texts. I was fortunate to participate in a summer workshop at Columbia University taught by Wijnie de Groot and Frans Blom, who provided a great springboard to working with 17^th century Dutch and paleography. Still, on my own, the work remained daunting.

Realizing that those working in this field are spread far and wide, especially outside of the Netherlands, I started this blog as a way to connect with others. My goal is to develop a support community for those working with 17th century Dutch. Each month, I will write a short post that showcases a related text or topic, while providing resources for reading, translation, and paleography. I am especially excited to incorporate the forum feature as an avenue for discussion and help with challenges (which I somehow think there will be) working with 17th century Dutch documents and texts. Again, I am in no way an expert on 17th century Dutch; on the contrary, I am trying to learn, just like some of you. Any feedback will help develop a more informative site. Welcome!

– Julie van den Hout