Great fortunes were amassed in the Golden Age, but only the lucky few actually struck it rich. Hermanus Verbeeck of Amsterdam, who lived from 1621 to 1681, was one of the many for whom life was a struggle. The son of a furrier, Verbeeck was twenty-three years old when his father died and he took over the business. He could never manage to run it successfully, however, complaining that stiff competition made it impossible for him to earn a decent living. Verbeeck was not cut out to be an artisan. His father had sent him to the Latin School, where he had taken an interest in literature. Although he wrote the occasional poem and play, the most interesting of his writings to have survived is his autobiography, written in 7,000 lines of rhyming verse. It is mainly a story of trials and tribulations, as he himself said:

Verbeeck's life was marked by setbacks and ordeals. After four years as a furrier, he sold the business and became a shopkeeper in the employ of his wife's parents. He then worked as a bookkeeper in a trading company owned by his brother-in-law, after which he became a wine broker and finally a clerk at the weigh-house in Dam Square.