Wap’s ‘Bilderdijkiana’

Jan J.F. Wap (1806-1880) was an avid object hunter. Already during Bilderdijk's life did a real passion for storage and collection arise around his work and life. Wap collected manuscripts and personal objects. He constantly begged Bilderdijk for a first edition, a signed family coat of arms or a manuscript.

When Bilderdijk's wife Katharina Wilhelmina Schweickhardt, herself a poet, died in 1830, Wap approached the grieving widower with the question whether he could get a 'homely memento' of the deceased. Finally, he managed to persuade Bilderdijk to give him the ring she had worn in honor of Stadholder William V. It was not easy for Bilderdijk to part with it. The ‘bagatelle’ was associated with a ‘double memory’ and for that reason it remained ‘so precious and unforgettable’. Wap, who was delighted with the gift, noted on Bilderdijk's letter: ‘The Ring referred to here, in which I had a hair flake of the Poet attached, is worn by the Spouse of Dr. Wap.’

In this booklet, Wap collected all kinds of special ‘Bilderdijkiana’, such as wax seals from Bilderdijk and his family.