Antwerpen of Leiden? Opkomst en ondergang van de Leidse oud-katholieke uitgever en boekverkoper Christiaen Vermey (werkzaam 1704-1724)

Abstract

This article presents a micro-history of the Leiden catholic bookseller Christiaan Vermey (active 1704-1724). The aim is to show that the study of small entrepreneurs in the early-modern Dutch booktrade can provide valuable information with regard to the publication of niche books. Vermey, who was born in the village of Bodegraven, started his career as a second-hand bookseller. He appears to have enjoyed the protection of influential patrons, reason why he was admitted to the guild of printers and booksellers. In the first phase of his career he specialized in catholic devotional texts with Southern-Netherlandish imprints. Thanks to the support of catholic investors he could expand his list with more ambitious publications, such as an edition of the Moretus-Bible (with the imprint Antwerp, Petrus Jouret, 1713-14) and a series of church-historical works written by the prominent jansenists Hugo Franciscus van Heussen and Hendrik van Rhijn. Vermey’s activity ended rather abruptly with a bankruptcy. Its settlement yields rich information on the management of his firm, which shows that the patronage he had enjoyed had made him commercially vulnerable.