Ontleend uit de fabelleer 1850 - 1881

Editor: This is a page from “Prenten-Magazijn voor de Jeugd,” or “Prints-Magazine for the Youth” featuring engravings with text published between 1850 and 1881 by Dirk Noothoven van Goor. The prints illustrate different proverbs and tales. The overall feeling is very much of its time - educational and moralizing. What's your read on a work like this? Curator: Well, considered in its historical context, this isn't just a quaint piece of children's literature; it reflects the values and aspirations of the Dutch middle class during a period of national self-discovery and consolidation. It’s interesting to consider the public role such images played in shaping the worldview of young readers, imprinting in them ideas about morality, civic virtue, and the importance of classical education. What's striking is how these engravings work not just as illustrations but also as instruments of socialisation. Editor: Socialization? Curator: Yes, think about it: selecting fables and proverbs steeped in Greco-Roman tradition as models for behavior subtly reinforces a certain hierarchy of knowledge. It assumes a level of cultural literacy and perhaps even aspiration toward upward mobility, given the class connotations attached to classical learning at the time. Do you see how that could have played out in society? Editor: That makes sense. The choice of subject matter isn't just arbitrary, is it? The publishers were actively trying to mold young minds with this classical imagery? Curator: Precisely. It wasn't simply about entertaining children; it was about cultivating a shared cultural identity. A child who recognized Icarus, Midas or Jupiter belonged to a specific, cultivated segment of society, which knew its classics and looked toward them as standards of civic value. How do you think that played out, knowing that these were widely distributed to children? Editor: It’s a whole other way to view a magazine like this, one I hadn't really considered before. I was really just focused on the images at first. Curator: Looking beyond the images, we can decode a narrative about the priorities of a certain social class, their means for disseminating them, and their aspirations for the young generation. Editor: Thanks, I hadn’t considered how prints like this also work as an index into 19th century social values and priorities, so clearly articulated here.