Censorship! Persmuseum IISG

1700-1800: Subdued freedom II
Alethophilus, Missive van een Amsterdammer
Alethophilus, Missive van een Amsterdammer aan zyn vriend te Groningen, betreffende de procedures tegens Mr. Jan Christiaan Hespe en den boekverkoper Jan Verlem.
Amsterdam: [s.n.], [19 mei
1785
]
[Alethophilus, Missive from a citizen of Amsterdam to his friend in Groningen, regarding the legal actions against Jan Christiaan Hespe and the bookseller Jan Verlem.]
Jan Hespe and Jan Verlem
The publisher/printer Jan Verlem and the journalist/editor Johannes (Jan) Christiaan Hespe regularly encountered trouble with their patriotic journals. In 1783, for instance, they were prosecuted for the title plate of their news journal, De Politieke Kruyer (1782-7). This journal and its makers became national news when, in Amsterdam in April 1785, Verlem and Hespe were sentenced to three and fourteen days "bread and water" (i.e. a prison term) respectively, and each was subjected to a fine of 3,000 guilders for insulting the Amsterdam regents Joachim van Rendorp and W.G. Dedel in De Politieke Kruyer, issue 224, March 1785.
Their sentencing had the opposite effect to that hoped by the authorities. The convicted men were celebrated as martyrs by the patriots throughout the country. Collections were even held to pay the fine and the costs. The patriotic journal De Post van den Neder-Rhijn published by Pieter 't Hoen also responded to the verdict.
Call number: PM
Bro 4740/5
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