Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: Cultural Nationalism and the Rise of Dutch Studies
- 1 Matthijs Siegenbeek in Defence of Dutch
- 2 Barthold Hendrik Lulofs: A ‘Learned Dilettante’
- 3 Poet and Professor: Adam Simons
- 4 Johannes Kinker: A Kantian Philosopher Teaching Dutch Language, Literature, and Eloquence
- 5 Caught Between Propaganda and Science: Ulrich Gerhard Lauts, the Forgotten Father of Dutch Philology in Brussels
- 6 Pieter Weiland and his Nederduitsche Spraakkunst
- 7 Moralist of the Nation: Johannes Henricus van der Palm
- 8 ‘I am Revived as a Belgian’: The Work of Jan Frans Willems
- 9 Adriaan Kluit: Back to the Sources!
- 10 ‘Can Grander Skulls be Crowned?’: Jacob van Dijk’s Posthumous Literary History
- 11 Hendrik van Wijn: Pioneer of Historical Literary Studies in the Netherlands
- 12 The Founding Father of Dutch Literary History: Jeronimo de Vries
- Afterword: Gert-Jan Johannes
- Index
3 - Poet and Professor: Adam Simons
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 February 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: Cultural Nationalism and the Rise of Dutch Studies
- 1 Matthijs Siegenbeek in Defence of Dutch
- 2 Barthold Hendrik Lulofs: A ‘Learned Dilettante’
- 3 Poet and Professor: Adam Simons
- 4 Johannes Kinker: A Kantian Philosopher Teaching Dutch Language, Literature, and Eloquence
- 5 Caught Between Propaganda and Science: Ulrich Gerhard Lauts, the Forgotten Father of Dutch Philology in Brussels
- 6 Pieter Weiland and his Nederduitsche Spraakkunst
- 7 Moralist of the Nation: Johannes Henricus van der Palm
- 8 ‘I am Revived as a Belgian’: The Work of Jan Frans Willems
- 9 Adriaan Kluit: Back to the Sources!
- 10 ‘Can Grander Skulls be Crowned?’: Jacob van Dijk’s Posthumous Literary History
- 11 Hendrik van Wijn: Pioneer of Historical Literary Studies in the Netherlands
- 12 The Founding Father of Dutch Literary History: Jeronimo de Vries
- Afterword: Gert-Jan Johannes
- Index
Summary
Abstract
Relatively little is known about Adam Simons (1770-1834), professor of Dutch Literature and Rhetoric at the university of Utrecht since 1815. That is not so surprising, as Simons wrote no literary history or any other type of monograph. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why, despite his being part of the first generation of professors of Dutch language and literature, virtually no attention has been paid him. In this chapter, Simons’ work is examined, both his poetry and his treatises. Simons was known primarily as a poet. Even after becoming professor, he remained predominately a poet. It was from this perspective that, on various occasions, he articulated his thoughts about the essence of poetry, but he also declaimed various essays on literary history, which are studied in this chapter.
Keywords: Adam Simons, literary history, Dutch poetry, Vondel, Romanticism
Introduction
In the spring of 1821, the German student August Heinrich Hoffman von Fallersleben crossed the border into the Netherlands. He intended to travel around while at the same time immersing himself in Middle Dutch literature. He went first to Utrecht, where he paid Professor Adam Simons (1770-1834) a visit. When Simons learned what the German's plans were, he responded: ‘Sir, it is not the custom in our country to go on a literary journey’. After a little while, once he had determined that Hoffmann was neither an adventurer nor vagabond, he warmed to him, and wanted to show him just how well-acquainted he was with the older Dutch literature, but Hoffman was unimpressed, claiming that what he heard were ‘things so widely known, that anyone might know them’. When Simons started about the Rhymed Chronicle of Klaas Kolijn and its author, Hoffmann understood that Simons was trying to catch him out. Balthazar Huydecoper had, after all, already proven in 1772 that this chronicle was a seventeenth-century hoax and therefore not a mediaeval manuscript. The visit came subsequently to a close, Hoffmann noting: ‘We parted as good friends, and never saw one another again’.
This is a rare eye-witness account of the Utrecht Professor Adam Simons. Who was this man?
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- Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2018