New Perspectives of the Digitized Correspondence of Constantijn Huygens (1596–1687)

Abstract

The prominent Dutch poet and secretary to Frederick Henry, Constantijn Huygens (1596-1687), was a true homo universalis. He was also a diplomat, an art connoisseur, a bibliophile, collector, musician, and a scholar. Mainly by means of his correspondence, he maintained a vast network of contactsreaching 'everybody who mattered' in the Dutch Golden Age. It is estimated that Huygens wrote and received more than 100 000 letters; of these only 10 000 have survived. In the early twentieth century, Huygens's correspondence was published by J. A. Worp. While Worp's work was exemplary, his editorial principles and practices fail to meet today's current scholarly standards. For example, Worp sometimes published abstracts of letters, rather than the letters themselves. He also selectively omitted letters that he deemed 'unimportant'. Several years ago the Huygens Institute of Dutch History began to create a new digital edition of Huygens's letters. This online edition of Huygens's correspondence reveals new perspectives on Huygens and on his work and writing. In addition to the newly discovered letters that now have been published, the digital edition also facilitates research on Huygens's varied use of language in letters to people, depending on their social strata. New analysis of his letters also grants insights into how Huygens communicated with the women of his time.