Willem Kloos & De Nieuwe Gids

The magazine De Nieuwe Gids (The New Guide) was founded in 1885. In its early years, it was a mouthpiece for the youngest generation of Dutch poets, the so-called Beweging van Tachtig (Movement of Eighty), which included such members as Frederik van Eeden (1860-1932), Frank van der Goes (1859-1939), Willem Kloos (1859-1938), Willem Paap (1856-1923) and Albert Verwey (1865-1937). The magazine's archives provide insight into their ideals and the issues they faced. Kloos took over the De Nieuwe Gids in 1894. Although important poets were still published in the magazine, it sold in diminishing numbers and was discontinued in 1943.

The collection consists of two parts: a selection of approximately 1,000 books from the library of the poet Willem Kloos, and the archives of the magazine De Nieuwe Gids (1885-1943), which he bequeathed to the KB. The book collection mostly contains Dutch and foreign (primarily German, French and English) literature and publications on art, history and theology.

The archives of De Nieuwe Gids contain letters from 1885-1893, including correspondence from Lodewijk van Deyssel, Multatuli, Frederik van Eeden and Herman Gorter. One of the highlights of the collection is the documentation about the poet Jacques Perk (1859-1881). The collection also includes minutes, press cuttings and other documents.

Long before poet Willem Kloos died in 1938, arrangements had been made for his library, including the archive of De Nieuwe Gids, to be incorporated into the KB. Kloos's private correspondence went to the Literary Collection of the Hague Municipal Archives (now the Literature Museum), and all the other manuscripts came to us. After 1939, the collection was occasionally supplemented through purchases from auctions.

The collection can be consulted in the KB's Special Collections reading room.