‘A Tribute to his Exceptional Merits’: Jacob Grimm’s Reputation in the Netherlands and Belgium in the Nineteenth Century

This paper aims to show that Jacob Grimm’s correspondence with
Dutch and Belgian colleagues clearly demonstrates that Jacob Grimm and his
fellow Dutch and Belgian researchers (such as H. van Wijn, H.W. Tydeman, the
Society for Dutch Literature and J.F. Willems) shared an interest in specific Dutch
literary works as well as in Dutch literature in general. Moreover, in his letters
Jacob Grimm presents himself as an extramural pioneer of the promotion of Dutch
language and literature. The correspondence can be considered both as part of a
public activity and a stimulus for his Dutch and Belgian partners. The article is
part of a project financed by the German Science Foundation (Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft) about correspondence as part of the history of humanity
in the nineteenth century. With approximately 300 letters, it reveals intense
contacts between Jacob (and Wilhelm) and about forty colleagues in the
Netherlands and in Belgium, but also their common goals.