Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1898

This is a letter in Dutch, written with ink on paper by Cornelis Gerardus 't Hooft in 1898. At first glance, it is a document of personal correspondence, yet its creation and preservation are embedded within a dense web of social and institutional practices. Consider the cultural emphasis on literacy and handwriting at the time, alongside the postal service’s role in connecting individuals across distances. The very act of writing and sending a letter presumes a certain level of education and access to resources, reflecting the social stratification of late 19th-century Netherlands. The letter’s survival speaks to the value placed on preserving such artifacts, whether by the recipient, family members, or historical societies. To fully understand this letter, we might turn to genealogical records, postal archives, and studies of Dutch social history. This letter reminds us that even the most intimate expressions are shaped by broader cultural and institutional contexts.