If there is one author who should be represented in this top-notch exhibition, it is John Bunyan. VU Amsterdam owns an impressive number of editions of this 17th-century English author, most notably his best-known work, "The Pilgrim's Progress. In this allegorical story, a man named Christian travels from the city of Trouble to the city of Heaven, helped or hindered along the way by all kinds of people.
Bestseller
This bestseller saw the light of day in London in 1678 and was first published in Dutch by the Amsterdam publisher Johannes Boekholt in 1682. Over the centuries many translations and adaptations would follow.
36 watercolors
Remarkable in the VU-collection is a handwritten version of this story which, according to the title page, was written 'tot Rotterdam in den jaren onses heeren MDCCLXIX'. Leafing through, we find 36 watercolors with an inscription above and a six-line verse below. Each watercolor depicts a scene from Christen's journey and each six-line verse comments on the scene. Research has shown that the creator of this manuscript, who identifies himself as I.W., probably used the print series of the renowned Dutch etcher Jan Luyken as a model.
Much love and dedication
Neither the watercolors nor the verses are masterpieces. They are simple handicrafts, which have clearly been entrusted to the paper with much love and dedication. That is why this is a masterpiece: at a time when one edition after another of this bestseller rolls off the printing press, the unknown I.W. takes brush and pen in hand and creates a unique, personal rendering.
