De Nieuwe Gids
Encyclopedia
De Nieuwe Gids was a Dutch illustrated literary periodical which was published from 1885 to 1943. It played an important role in promoting the literary movement of 1880s. Its contents covered a wide range of topics, extending to developments in science.
Around 1880 a group of young writers in Amsterdam
, dissatisfied with the existing conservative literary climate, founded the group Flanor, also known as the Tachtigers, and began publishing De Nieuwe Gids as a vehicle for their work. The first issue appeared on 1 October 1885.
The title The New Guide was intended as a sarcastic anti-tribute to Amsterdam's prevailing literary journal, De Gids (The Guide), which the Tachtigers viewed as old-fashioned and didactic, and which had persistently rejected their submissions. Two of the founding editors and frequent contributors to The New Guide were the poet and critic Willem Kloos
, and the poet, novelist, playwright, essayist, and psychiatrist Frederik van Eeden
, both of whom are widely regarded today as canonical greats of Dutch literature. The other three founding editors of The New Guide were F. van der Goes, Willem Paap, and Albert Verwey. Other prominent Tachtigers' works first appeared in The New Guide, including the literary critic Lodewijk van Deyssel
, and the novelist Herman Gorter
, who is probably the most widely read Tachtiger.
De Nieuwe Gids is almost entirely known for the material from its first few years. Within a few years of its founding, its editors had one falling out after another, until the only editor left by 1893 was Kloos, who himself was rapidly deteriorating into mental illness
and alcoholism
, and who converted De Nieuwe Gids into little more than a personal journal for cataloguing his many betrayals and sufferings. De Nieuwe Gids was finally discontinued in 1943.
Around 1880 a group of young writers in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, dissatisfied with the existing conservative literary climate, founded the group Flanor, also known as the Tachtigers, and began publishing De Nieuwe Gids as a vehicle for their work. The first issue appeared on 1 October 1885.
The title The New Guide was intended as a sarcastic anti-tribute to Amsterdam's prevailing literary journal, De Gids (The Guide), which the Tachtigers viewed as old-fashioned and didactic, and which had persistently rejected their submissions. Two of the founding editors and frequent contributors to The New Guide were the poet and critic Willem Kloos
Willem Kloos
Willem Johannes Theodorus Kloos was a Dutch poet and literary critic, and is widely considered one of the great writers of the Dutch language....
, and the poet, novelist, playwright, essayist, and psychiatrist Frederik van Eeden
Frederik van Eeden
Frederik Willem van Eeden was a late 19th century and early 20th century Dutch writer and psychiatrist...
, both of whom are widely regarded today as canonical greats of Dutch literature. The other three founding editors of The New Guide were F. van der Goes, Willem Paap, and Albert Verwey. Other prominent Tachtigers' works first appeared in The New Guide, including the literary critic Lodewijk van Deyssel
Lodewijk van Deyssel
Lodewijk van Deyssel was the pseudonym of Karel Joan Lodewijk Alberdingk Thijm , a Dutch novelist, prose-poet and literary critic and a leading member of the Tachtigers.- External links :...
, and the novelist Herman Gorter
Herman Gorter
Herman Gorter was a Dutch poet and socialist. He was a leading member of the Tachtigers, a highly influential group of Dutch writers who worked together in Amsterdam in the 1880s, centered around De Nieuwe Gids .Gorter's first book, a 4,000 verse epic poem called "Mei" , sealed his reputation...
, who is probably the most widely read Tachtiger.
De Nieuwe Gids is almost entirely known for the material from its first few years. Within a few years of its founding, its editors had one falling out after another, until the only editor left by 1893 was Kloos, who himself was rapidly deteriorating into mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
and alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, and who converted De Nieuwe Gids into little more than a personal journal for cataloguing his many betrayals and sufferings. De Nieuwe Gids was finally discontinued in 1943.