Kermisprent van de Amsterdamse courantombrengers voor het jaar 1851 1851

This print was made in 1851 by Jacob Coldewijn, and it commemorates the Amsterdam newspaper carriers. The image is divided into two distinct parts: a detailed cityscape at the top and a block of dense text below. Newspaper carriers were a key part of the Dutch public sphere and were often associated with radical political movements. This is because the press can function as a form of social cohesion, creating an informed citizenry, and providing an alternative to state-controlled media. The cityscape depicted here creates a sense of shared public space and the text reinforces this impression by offering a poem in the voice of the newspaper carriers, thus turning these individuals into symbolic representatives of the city itself. To understand this print fully, one would want to look at the history of the Dutch press in the 19th century.