Fellowship for the 'Doopsgezinde Bibliotheek'

The 'Doopsgezinde Bibliotheek’ at the Allard Pierson contains approximately 16.000 printed works on Anabaptist history, spanning from the sixteenth century to the present day. In addition, the collection comprises around 120 linear metres of archival material, including handwritten tracts, letters, and sermons from the eighteenth to the twentieth century, including texts by female ministers.

The core of the collection focuses on Dutch Anabaptist (Doopsgezind) history, but it also includes publications from abroad. Among the most important holdings are the writings of the early Anabaptist leaders in the Low Countries, including Melchior Hoffman, Menno Simons, David Joris, Dirk Philips, and Adam Pastor. The collection further includes works by related thinkers such as Hans Denck, Christiaan Entfelder, and Sebastian Franck, as well as later spiritualists such as Hendrick Niclaes and Hendrick Jansz van Barrefelt (Hiël), which are well represented. The collection contains numerous hymnals and songbooks dating from the sixteenth century to the present day, including contributions by women from the earliest period onward, as well as theological and polemical writings by ministers, confessional documents, periodicals (including those related to Doopsgezind mission work), and prints.

The ‘Doopsgezinde Bibliotheek’ has been on loan from the ‘Doopsgezinde Gemeente Amsterdam’ since 1968. The fellowship is intended for researchers from various disciplines, such as religious studies, cultural history, literary studies, book history and art history.  

Suggestions for research:

Topics related to:

• The role of Doopsgezind printers, translators, and publishers in the dissemination of Enlightenment ideas;
• Doopsgezind mission within colonial contexts, with attention to marginalized voices;
• The revival of Dutch Anabaptism at the end of the eighteenth century and its impact on politics, science, and the arts;
• The debates on freedom of conscience and (in)equality within Doopsgezind circles;
• Interpretations of the principle of nonresistance within Doopsgezind thought and its implications in a specific context;
• The position of Doopsgezinden in the economy of the Dutch Republic and the influence of their religious identity;
• Or other topics in the field of Doopsgezind (Dutch Anabaptist) history.

Searching the collection

All printed works and a part of the manuscripts can be found through the online catalogue of the UvA. The Doopsgezinde Bibliotheek as a whole has been described in the Collection Descriptions. For a survey of all the manuscripts and archives, curator Gwendolyn Verbraak can be contacted.

Questions

Curator Gwendolyn Verbraak (g.m.verbraak@uva.nl) can be contacted for questions about the collection. On behalf of the ‘Doopsgezind Erfgoedcentrum’, Prof. Dr. Mirjam van Veen (mirjam.vanveen@ads.nl) is available for inquiries and part of the selection committee. Fellowship programme coordinator Anna de Wilde (a.e.dewilde@uva.nl) can be contacted for questions about the application process.

Guidelines

Read more about the guidelines and the application process here.