The printed legacy of Dutch lotteries in the early modern period

Throughout the early modern period, lotteries were ubiquitous in the Dutch Republic. The popularity and reach of the lottery is demonstrated by the large amount of printed material produced during this period: lottery tickets, lottery registers, pamphlets, engravings, advertisements, playing cards, pamphlets, plays and anthologies. This kaleidoscope of printed material gives us a fascinating insight into the function of lotteries in the early modern Dutch Republic. It tells us about the struggle between the state lottery (from 1726 onwards) and illegal, local or private lotteries, between commercial and charitable aims, between higher and lower classes, between men and women, and between Dutch and foreign lotteries. This printed legacy also stresses the importance of publishers and booksellers as producers of this material, as collectors of lottery tickets and as organisers of book lotteries themselves. Printed pamphlets and plays were used to criticize and satirise the lottery fantasy of sudden richness. Lottery tickets uncover the voices of actual players. It was common for players to add a small (handwritten) verse or motto to their lottery tickets. People used these verses to reflect on their current social circumstances, political issues and their hopes for the future. Many of these tickets with verses have been preserved in public collections. In this paper I will try to answer the question to what extent all these printed sources help us to understand the social, economic and cultural impact of lotteries on early modern society.