Introduction
Between the many beautiful books and old master prints of Antiquariaat A.G. van der Steur, their collection of catchpenny prints might seem to stand out as the ugly duckling. These prints were printed from crudely cut woodcuts - or later lithographs -, distributed on cheap paper, and colored quite messily in a few primary colors by hand or with stencils. Even their name, ‘catchpenny print’, points to their low economic value. Being worth only a few cents, they were available to anyone, most importantly to children. Although their economic value might have been low in the 18th and 19th century, in terms of both their content and visual qualities they are nothing less than small treasures. They show their viewers all kinds of scenes, from alphabets to biblical miracles, to historic events, such as Hugo Grotius’ heroic escape from castle Loevestein (CP 110). Or think of the folk tales like “Jan de Wasser en zijn Wijf” in which the world is turned upside down when Griet orders her husband Jan de Wasser to take over her domestic tasks (CP 103). And how about the prints teaching children wise moral lessons, from helping the elderly (CP 117), to not swallowing needles (CP115). In short, these prints provide us with a unique window into the social world of the children who bought them or received them as rewards for good behavior. And what is more, they do it in a way that is a real pleasure to the eye. To create a system in this wide array of subject matters, the prints are ordered by the following themes: • • • • • • •
Alphabets and Games, Dutch historical events and topography, Genre Scenes: Social life, Events, Literature, Fiction & Allegories, Soldiers, Biblical events, parables and miracles, and Animals.
Each print is presented by its original title or the first lines of the text. If no title was available, one has been assigned. These titles are accompanied by the stock numbers assigned to the prints by their publisher. In some instances, the addresses of these publishers are indicated on the print, in other cases these are the addresses of the ‘wederverkopers’, the booksellers distributing the prints. In all cases, we have included descriptions of both the appearance and content of the prints.
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