De schatkist. Lambert Bidloo’s Panpoëticon Batavûm

Samenvatting

This article discusses the extensive poem published in 1720 by the Amsterdam apothecary Lambert Bidloo (1638-1724) about the collection of portraits of Dutch poets started by Arnoud van Halen (1673-1732): the Panpoëticon Batavûm. It is argued that Bidloo’s poem is more than just a lenghty ‘paean to Dutch poetry’, as is stated in the most recent Dutch literary history of the eighteenth century (Leemans & Johannes 2013, p 111). Bidloo is a dedicated but critical reader of old and new Dutch poetry and he also has definite ideas about the direction in which it should develop. In doing so, he shows himself not only a devotee to Vondel and the great Dutch tradition, but also a typical ancien, convinced that serious poetry can be written only on the basis of classical models.

Online addendum: Lieke van Deinsen & Ton van Strien. Lambert Bidloo, Panpoëticon Batavûm (1720). Samenvatting met annotaties; beschikbaar op http://www.tntl.nl/addenda/Add_VanStrien_2014_130_3.pdf