Oorkonde van de Vereniging ter Bevordering van de Belangen des Boekhandels 1892

Curator: This detailed print is an award certificate created in 1892 by Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof. It commemorates the "Oorkonde van de Vereniging ter Bevordering van de Belangen des Boekhandels," or the Charter of the Association for the Promotion of the Interests of the Book Trade. Editor: It feels like stepping back in time, the texture and the line work give it a real aged character. The composition looks like it's teetering between decorative and symbolic; my eyes keep getting drawn back to the images across the top section. Curator: You’re right to notice the Art Nouveau style. Dijsselhof designed this during a period of increased professionalization and organization among Dutch book publishers and sellers, a fascinating period where commercial and artistic interests aligned. We must not forget how Art Nouveau had a pervasive influence on not only visual design but on professional identities during this epoch. Editor: I see figures at the top—perhaps representing muses or guiding spirits of literature. And in the central image a man appears to be anointing someone...maybe presenting an author with laurels? Are they symbols intended to dignify and legitimize the book trade? Curator: Indeed, those pictorial choices work within a visual language intended to elevate the profession. You see not just the glorification of the literary arts, but the solidifying of its status within society, as you say, to dignify. That scene, evocative of crowning a hero, certainly does suggest a sort of ennoblement of the author or book craftsman. The certificate becomes a tool for self-promotion. Editor: The framing foliage also suggests growth and knowledge blossoming through printed materials. What's most remarkable is how effectively the artist weaves typography and image. Notice how each piece supports the whole; even what could have been mere administrative credentials gain symbolic weight, transforming this certificate into a declaration of the book trade’s significance. Curator: An incisive reading! Dijsselhof recognized that even bureaucratic objects can be instruments of cultural power. And that by investing even commonplace items, like an award certificate, with a sense of cultural significance, those objects can, over time, help reinforce a sense of communal value. Editor: Exactly. That’s what I take away as well; symbols create legacies. It is a very telling artifact of how culture operates.