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Meisje
Gerrit Achterberg. S.l., In agris occupatis, 1944. [12] pp. (Volière-reeks, 2). Edition of 110 copies, I-X signed by the poet. This is no. I, without signature. Not for sale. Cover illustration by H.N. Werkman. - 2293 B 26
When Gerrit Achterberg's widow, Mrs J.C. Achterberg-van Baak, died in 1989, she donated in her will one copy of every edition of every book by her late husband to the Koninklijke Bibliotheek. This collection is of particular importance, not only because it contains all variants of every single edition, but also because the copies are author's copies.
Gerrit Achterberg (1905-1962) was a prolific poet. He published some thirty collections of poetry, while four volumes of collected poems, an anthology and some translations of his work were already published during his lifetime. Meisje, the slim volume whose front cover is reproduced on the opposite page, appeared in the Volière-reeks, a series of underground publications from the ‘agris occupatis’ (the occupied land), established by the poet A. Marja [Arend Theodoor Mooij] together with the lawyers W.H. Overbeek and J.B. Charles [W.H. Nagel]. Achterberg had met Marja during World War II and as a result Meisje was also included in the series. The cover was made by the Groningen printer Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman (1882-1945), who also participated in the other publications in the series. The cover shows his characteristic working method: a multi-coloured stencilled printing resulting in overlapping colourful planes which together constitute the picture.
Achterberg dedicated the book to ‘the radiant’. As the Dutch first name ‘Bep’ means "the radiant'', this might be interpreted as a dedication to Bep van Zalingen, his former girlfriend, with whom he broke in 1932 after manifold problems. But it could also refer to Bep van Es, his landlady's daughter. Achterberg had harboured passionate feelings for both mother and daughter, feelings that had remained unrequited, and led to a dramatic conclusion. On 15 December 1937 Achterberg fatally wounded his landlady when she came to the rescue of her daughter, whom he had been harassing. This incident acted as a catalyst for the leitmotiv in Achterberg's oeuvre: love and death.
Literature
- Hans van Straten. Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman. Amsterdam 1980
- W. Hazeu. Gerrit Achterberg. Een biografie. Amsterdam 1988.