Two-Volume Dutch-English Dictionary by John Holtrop, 1789 & 1801

Sharing a recent acquisition for my Dutch & Flemish studies library: a 220 year old, turn-of-the 19th century Dutch-English dictionary in two volumes!

It is unknown if the author, John Holtrop ( d. 1792), was born in England or if his family emigrated to Dordrecht in South Holland. But he appears to have fully settled in the Dutch Republic, obtaining Dutch citizenship in 1759 in the wake of his second marriage.

His son, Willem Holtrop, was the publisher who, along with Abraham Blussé (1726-1808), printed the two books. They represent an iterative improvement on the catalog of words first gathered and printed in Willem Sewel’s (1653-1720) influential Dutch-English dictionary.

While there are earlier Dutch-English dictionaries and grammars (the latter being shorter, more practical affairs), this represents the first dictionary set I’ve found for sale and at a price I was willing to spend.

Most of my resources remain digital, honestly, but it’s nice to have a two-century-old reference on hand in case I come by a curious Dutch word I have trouble defining.

Plus… old books are lovely to have around and treasure.

See my early modern Dutch language resources page for links to earlier Dutch dictionaries such as Henry Hexam’s, the very first Dutch-English dictionary from the middle of the 1600s.