A 'Jabbing Book' as a Relic of a Lost Tradition

I N A DIGITIZED world of libraries we tend to forget that there is more than digitized books. Students, historians, and other academics make use of digital libraries, that consist of the digitized heritage collections that are kept in libraries. But they should be aware of the fact that the surviving books from the centuries that lay behind us, now kept in the special collections departments of libraries, are a lacunous reflection of our past. Once in a while books come to the surface that reveal traditions from our past that we didn’t know about.

Leiden University Library recently purchased an Amsterdam almanac from the seventeenth century, that reveals a curious tradition in the popular culture of the seventeenth century. The little book (8 x 5 cm), printed in the small 32mo format, contains five unique editions, beautifully bound in a black, chagrin binding with silver hinges and locks. It was printed in 1690 by the Amsterdam printer, publisher and bookseller Gillis Joosten Saeghman or Zaagman (1619-1704), who had a long career (of more than sixty years) in the Amsterdam book trade. Almanacs in small formats (8mo, 12mo, 24mo, 32mo) were printed in enormous print runs, but only very few copies survive. “The more there were, the less there are”, is certainly true for his popular genre.

Beside the regular almanac (Zaagmans Almanach na de nieuwe en oudestijl op ‘t jaer onses Heeren Jesu Chrisi Anno 1690), the little volume has four additional works (‘bijwerk’ in Dutch) that were chosen to be combined with the almanac according to the preferences of the owner. These small additional gatherings sometimes had practical information, popular knowledge, devotion or amusement. In this almanac we find ‘Zaagmans korte Kronyck’ (‘Zaagmans Short Chronicle’), ‘Stichtelijcke Gesangen’ (‘Devotional Songs’) and ‘Bruylofts Liedekens’ (‘Wedding Songs’). But the most intriguing part is ‘t Vermaecklijck Steeck-boeckjen, Waer in de Secreten des Herten van Jonghmans en Dochters te lesen zijn (‘The Amusing Jabbing Book, revealing the Secrets of Hearts of Young Men and Daughters’).

The title page shows that this book was printed ‘Voor de nieuwsgierige’ (‘For the Curious’) and is illustrated with a foolscap, indicating that it’s a humorous book. The title page doesn’t mention a printer’s name, but we may safely assume it was the same Saeghman, who specialised in popular books like almanacs, travelogues, chapbooks, songbooks, broadside ballads and other cheap print. In fact, this little book is a far cry from a much more luxurious but no less curious book from 1624, written by the Dutch poet Jan Jansz Starter (1593-1626).

It’s a special type of emblembook, printed in oblong-format, with the title Steeck-boecxken, ofte ‘tvermaak der jeugdelijker herten (‘Jabbing Book, or amusement of the Young Hearts’). A book about love, illustrated with 62 engraved emblems of ‘candid hearts’ in different situations; a heart on the street, on the table next to a bottle of gin, a heart in front of a mirror, etc. And by far the most beautiful image: a heart in the company of books! The finely engraved emblems were made by Chrispijn de Passe (1564-1637), after designs by Jan van de Velde (1593-1641), and were accompanied by the poems by Starter.

The poet himself explains how his book should be used:

[…] dit Boecxken [wordt] in dese maniere gebruyckt, een houdt dit Boecxken in de hant ende houdet toe, een ander steeckter in, tusschen de bladers met een priemken of naelde, dan treft hy somtijts sijns Herten genegenheyt, soo niet soo treft het ten minsten eenighe van den wesende […].

[…] this Book should be used in this way: one person holds the book in one hand and shows it, the other stabs in it, at the edges, with an awl or needle, and he’ll might meet his Heart’s affection, and if not, he’ll touch at least some of them […].

So Starter’s book was not so much a book to be read, but more of an amorous game for young couples. Long time it was assumed that not a single copy of the original edition of Starter’s book survived. The earliest surviving editions were late reprints from the 18th century. However, only recently, the first edition came to light. In 1991 The KB/National Library of the Netherlands first acquired a corrupt version, with the plates only of the first edition of 1620. Eight years later, the same library managed to purchase a much better copy of the first edition, one of the only two known copies worldwide!

Still, there was a huge gap between the first edition (1620) and the early 18th-century reprints, but we may safely assume that many editions of the Steeckboekje were published in those years. From the inventory of the bookshop of the Haarlem bookseller Vincent Casteleyn dating from 1660, we know he sold “heaps” of ‘Steeckboeckjes’. Not a single copy of this particular edition survives, but they were certainly popular.

Our new find shows that in the years between 1620 en 1690, Starter’s Steeckboekje evolved from an elaborate emblembook to a popular entertainment game for young lovers. Starter's name is no longer connected to his book, the lines of his original verses are gone, and the fine emblems have been replaced by coarse woodblock portraits. These woodcuts were not made on purpose for this edition but were old blocks that were available in the printing office. The tone of the verses developed simultaneously, from the highbrow poetry of Starter to Saeghman’s simple and scabrous rhymes.

Saeghman’s little almanac may well be the only relic of the popular culture of ‘steekboekjes’ (‘jabbing books’) in the Netherlands. The peculiar ‘use’ of these books, stabbing needles in it on a regular basis, must have reduced the survival rate! It shows the importance that librarians and curators keep an eye out for the unknown, sometimes at antiquarian bookshops or auction houses, but sometimes even at the local thrift store.

Kasper van Ommen, PhD, is Curator Western Printed Old and Rare Books & Coordinator of the Scaliger Institute at Leiden University Libraries.

Garrelt Verhoeven (1966) is a book historian and alumnus of Leiden University, currently working as Coordinator Cultural Entrepreneurship & Fundraising at the Special Collections department of Leiden University Libraries. He’s also a freelance publicist, speaker, presenter and adviser, and teaches irregularly in the Book and Digital Media Studies MA programme.