Stamps and bindings

First editions of his work became true collector's items during Bilderdijk's life. Collectors paid large sums for complete sets. In 1823, for example, Bilderdijk's works in sixty-eight volumes, bound in 'half English bindings and uncut', pulled in two hundred guilders at an auction in Amsterdam.

One of the most fanatical Bilderdijk collectors was the well-known poet Hendrik Tollens (1780-1856). In 1849, he remarked: ‘Bilderdijk certainly has no more ardent admirer than me’. Not only did he read everything that was published by and about him, he also turned out to be a passionate collector. The literary scholar Hendrik de Jager later wrote: ‘Tollens always suffered from the mania to collect poetic curiosities. In particular, he handled the completion of his Bilderdijk collection in a way that could rather be called a speculation to lose money than to gain money. For what he lacked, he feared no price.’ He collected first editions, manuscripts and curiosities and kept an eye on auctions.

Tollens had 133 prints of Bilderdijk, presumably in the 1850s, uniformly bound in beautiful blue cloth bindings, which were decorated with stamps. That must have been a costly affair. The complete set, of which a few parts can be seen here, is kept in Leiden. What makes it extra special is the fact that the original stamps have also survived.