Portret van Lucretia Wilhelmina van Merken 1818

Willem van Senus made this print of Lucretia Wilhelmina van Merken sometime around 1818. It serves as the frontispiece to one of her books. Born in 1721, Van Merken belonged to a generation of Dutch intellectuals inspired by the Enlightenment. She wrote poetry and plays that were staged in Amsterdam and The Hague. Her family belonged to the Dutch Reformed Church, but like other religious thinkers of the era, she advocated tolerance and reasoned belief rather than dogma. Van Merken was exceptional as a woman of letters in a time when higher education and the arts were still male dominated. Despite many obstacles, she achieved wealth and fame in her lifetime. Scholars studying the history of gender and literature have done much to bring Van Merken’s work to our attention. Her writing speaks to the social structures of her time, and it’s up to us to interpret her work within the context of 18th-century Europe.