Dit wild en tam gediert / en vogels schoon van veeren / Zijn om u / ô jonge jeugd / het A, B, C, te leeren 1787 - 1822

Editor: Here we have “Dit wild en tam gediert / en vogels schoon van veeren / Zijn om u / ô jonge jeugd / het A, B, C, te leeren,” created between 1787 and 1822. It's a print in the Rijksmuseum by Jan Hendrik de Lange, using woodcut and engraving. It’s almost like an alphabet sampler featuring different animals! I find the composition and details somewhat humorous, like a medieval meme. What's your perspective on this piece? Curator: It tickles my funny bone too! This image, with its menagerie of real and imagined creatures, isn't just a quirky bestiary—it’s a window into a time when the world was still being mapped, and stories mingled with scientific observation. Consider the unicorn cheek-by-jowl with a camel; they’re presented with equal weight. The visual is educational but also brimming with delightful inaccuracy, a whimsical exploration. Where does education begin and the world of imaginative ideas take over? Editor: So it's like a predecessor to the modern illustrated children's book. Are we to take these seriously, though, or were people more discerning back then? Curator: Oh, discerning for certain! But with a healthy appetite for marvels. The world was grand and unknown, brimming with stories. That mermaid lurking down there... these weren't mere factual errors, but the spice of life in a time of discovery. Didactic *and* dazzling! It prompts the question, doesn't it—when does the transmission of information shade into folklore? Editor: It certainly does! Looking at it that way adds an entirely new dimension to the print. I went in expecting just a simple ABC, but found a reflection of 18th-century imagination. Curator: Exactly. A world where reality and myth danced together on a single page, meant for young eyes. Delicious, isn't it? A good reminder to approach anything educational with creativity.