Temptation in the Archives

Essays in Golden Age Dutch Culture

Lisa Jardine CBE FRS (Author)

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Temptation in the Archives is a collection of essays by Lisa Jardine, that takes readers on a journey through the Dutch Golden Age. Through the study of such key figures as Sir Constantjin Huygens, a Dutch polymath and diplomat, we begin to see the Anglo-Dutch cultural connections that formed during this period against the backdrop of unfolding political events in England. Temptation in the Archives paints a picture of a unique relationship between the Netherlands and England in the 17th century forged through a shared experience – and reveals the lessons we can learn from it today.

1 Temptation in the Archives
2 1688 And All That: Some Curious Consequences of ‘Going Dutch’
3 Never Trust a Pirate: Christiaan Huygens’s Longitude Clocks
4 The Reputation of Sir Constantijn Huygens: Networker or Virtuoso?
5 ‘Dear Song’: Scholarly Whitewashing of the Correspondence between Constantijn Huygens and Dorothea van Dorp
6 The Afterlife of Homo Ludens: From Johan Huizinga to Natalie Zemon Davis and Beyond

DOI: 10.14324/111.9781910634035

Number of pages: 160

Number of illustrations: 3

Publication date: 04 June 2015

PDF ISBN: 9781910634097

EPUB ISBN: 9781910634073

Read Online ISBN: 9781911307174

Hardback ISBN: 9781910634028

Paperback ISBN: 9781910634035

Lisa Jardine CBE FRS (Author)

Lisa Jardine CBE (1944-2015) was Professor of Renaissance Studies at UCL, and Director of the UCL Centre for Editing Lives and Letters. She was the author of many works, including Going Dutch, Ingenious Pursuits and Worldly Goods.

‘These essays make interesting and stimulating reading, and represent a poignant reminder of her distinctive contribution to Anglo-Dutch scholarship.’
BMGN – Low Countries Historical Review

‘Temptation in the Archives feels refreshingly personal, accessible yet rigorous.’
Times Higher Education

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