We were honoured to be asked to conduct research into the Dutch edition of Equiano’s ‘Interesting Narrative’. First published in London in 1789 the ‘Narrative’ was an instant best seller, it had run through nine editions by the time Equiano died in 1797 selling something like 30,000 copies – a phenomenal number for a book in those days (and not too shabby now!).
The book’s success piqued the interest of publishers on the Continent. There were no copyright laws in those days so there was nothing to stop any enterprising publisher from producing their own version of the book. With the prospect of money to be made, publishers in Holland, Germany and Russia jumped on the bandwagon. All they had to do was get the book translated, print it and wait for the proceeds to roll in.
The first to produce a translated version in Dutch was Pieter Holsteyn of Rotterdam but our research identified that another Dutch publisher had also been interested. In May 1790 the bookseller Peter van Braam placed adverts in a Rotterdam newspaper. We commissioned a translation of the adverts and found they said that he was ‘translating and printing, from English to Dutch: The Interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa the African, written by himself.’ We do not know what became of van Braam’s plans as to our knowledge he never published the book.
Instead it was Holsteyn who, in October and November of the same year placed adverts in Dutch newspapers saying that the book was now printed and ready for distribution. Again we commissioned a translation:
‘Pieter Holsteyn, Bookseller in Rotterdam, now publishes, and has sent to his correspondents in other cities: MERKWAARDIGE LEVENSGEVALLEN van OLOUDAH EQUIANO of GUSTAVUS VASSA [The Remarkable Life of Oloudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa], once a Negro-slave; giving a concise account of the manners and customs of his land; story of his slavery; mistreatment; singular fortunes, on sea as well as on land; shipwreck and other disasters he was treated to; his progression in the knowledge of God and religion; his obtained freedom; his conversion to belief in Christ; as well as the atrocities committed against himself and against other Negro-slaves, in the West Indies, &c. Being a true story, (and not romantic poetry) and written by himself in English, decorated with his well-fitting portrait; translated from English into elegant Dutch.’
We wanted to know how many copies of the book were produced, who might have bought them and how it was received. To find answers to these questions we travelled to Utrecht to meet Professor Marijke Huisman. Her paper ‘Beyond the subject: Anglo-American Slave Narratives in the Netherlands, 1789 – 2013’ contained some valuable insights but we wanted to find out more.
The first question we had concerned the make up of Dutch society in the years preceding publication.
Just like the UK, Holland was an important trading nation. It had major ports like Amsterdam and Rotterdam and there would undoubtedly have been a transient population of seamen, including black seamen, visiting the Netherlands throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Some of these may have settled long enough to put down roots and marry local women. Equiano reports in the ‘Interesting Narrative’ that he himself visited Holland at least twice as a young man whilst enslaved.
Until recently very little research has been done into the historic black population in Holland. This has started to change and research into church and court records has begun to reveal something of the history of a black presence in the Netherlands but the picture is very far from complete. The American academic, Dr Allison Blakely of Boston University, suggests that the black population of the Netherlands amounted to ‘a few thousand.’
Very few of them left a mark. One who did, albeit briefly, was the former slave Jacobus Capitein, so named because a Dutch captain brought him to Leiden, where he was put into school, mastered several European languages, and eventually became a preacher after completing theological training at the University of Leiden in 1742. He wrote a treatise in which he defended slavery as an avenue to redemption for Africans, not a theory that has aged well.
Professor Huisman told us that, to date, no Dutch equivalent of Equiano has been identified. Capitein seems the closest.
Black people did appear in paintings from time to time and during our visit to Utrecht we made a point of seeing this work by Rembrandt:
Dating from 1626, long before Equiano’s time, the black subjects must surely have been painted from live models. Of course this is just one example which strongly suggests a black presence in Holland.
We asked Dr Huisman the number of copies of the Dutch edition of ‘The Interesting Narrative’ that might have been produced. She told us that no evidence concerning the sales of any of Holsteyn’s books (he published 166 books over a 50 year period) has ever been found and evidence from other publishers is very scanty. Research undertaken on books published between 1811 and 1813, based on the limited amount of material that is available, came to the conclusion that the print run for: ‘novels’ was generally in the range 500 to 800 copies (average 650); for ‘scientific’ books about 300 copies were produced; and for ‘religious books and almanacs’ the figure could be up to 3000. It is likely that ‘The Interesting Narrative’ was regarded as a ‘novel’ (an exciting adventure story) and so the number printed is unlikely to have been much more than 500.
Very few copies of the Dutch edition survive. Marieke van Delft, Curator of early printed editions at the National Library in the Hague, has told us that ‘three copies of the book are in Dutch public collections, and Yale keeps a copy.’ The fact that so few copies exist is another indication that the book was not produced in large numbers.
We were lucky enough to see a surviving copy at the University library in Utrecht:
The edition we saw gives an indication of who owned this copy and therefore provides clues as to the likely readership. One photo shows Holsteyn’s signature so he was clearly the first ‘owner’. The stamps all appear to relate to individuals and organisations closely connected with the Dutch Reformed Church. It appears that they were held in the libraries of theological colleges and may therefore have been used in the education of missionaries and ministers.
Our last question concerned how the book was received. There was only one review as far as we know. It was a lengthy affair which we had translated in full.
It is not a ‘review’ in the modern sense of the word, there is practically no critical analysis of the text, it is a long and frankly rather garbled re-telling of some episodes from the book. There is a brief reference to ‘the inhuman atrocities which are still being committed against Negro slaves in the West Indies,’ but nothing is said directly concerning the abolition of slavery. Equiano himself is described sympathetically as having ‘a perceptive soul’ and the ‘indescribable grief’ caused by separation from his sister is noted. The importance of Christianity to Equiano is mentioned a number of times (e.g. ‘Christ was discovered as precious in my soul above all others’), an aspect of the narrative that Dutch readers would have been sympathetic to. The review concludes ‘we cannot remember ever having run through such a story with such pleasure. The style is simple and easy, but clear throughout. We feel free to recommend [the book] to our readers.’
So, the only review was favourable but it doesn’t follow that the book sold well. Professor Huisman argues that the whole political culture was different in Holland and that this meant ‘The Interesting Narrative’ was read in an entirely different way. While moral sentiments played a large role in British politics and were especially important for British abolitionists in particular, the Dutch debate of slavery had little to do with the moral aspects but instead focused on the question of how emancipation would be paid for. In the UK Equiano generated many sales through his nationwide tours. He was invited to Holland but didn’t take up the offer, had he done so he would most likely have found a Dutch audience less receptive to his message.
We reported our findings at an event held at the Black Cultural Archives in Brixton (calypsonian Alexander D’Great was one of those who also featured and is pictured here with us):
The full report we produced for the Equiano Society has now been shared with Vincent Carretta and Paul Lovejoy, leading scholars with an interest in Equiano. For anyone fluent in 18th century Dutch (!) you should be able to find the full text of the book here:
https://www.delpher.nl/nl/boeken/view?coll=boeken&identifier=dpo:8413:mpeg21
It is nice to know that we have contributed in a small way to the understanding of Olaudah Equiano who did indeed lead a very interesting life!