Adriaen Verwer Explained

Adriaen Verwer
Birth Name:Adriaen Pietersz. Verwer
Birth Date:c. 1655
Birth Place:Rotterdam
Death Date:31 March 1717 (aged 62)
Death Place:Amsterdam
Occupation:merchant, writer, scholar
Language:Dutch, Latin
Subject:language, religion, maritime law
Signature:Signature of Adriaen Verwer 1687.jpg

Adriaen Verwer (Rotterdam, c.1655–Amsterdam, 1717) was a Dutch Mennonite merchant, scholar, philosopher and linguist. He wrote books on language, religion and maritime law. He is best known for his grammar Linguae Belgicae, published anonymously in 1707. He is often regarded as the linguistic mentor of his younger friend Lambert ten Kate.

Life

Adriaen Pietersz. Verwer was born in Rotterdam in about 1655, the son of Pieter Adriaensz. Verwer. In 1680 he moved to Amsterdam, where he soon became involved in the intellectual life of the city. In 1682 he came into contact with the works and the followers of Baruch Spinoza, whose ideas he did not share. He refuted them in his book 't Mom-Aensicht Der Atheistery Afgerukt, "The mask of atheism torn off", published in 1683. His Inleiding tot de Christelyke Gods-geleertheid, "Introduction to Christian theology", published in 1698, examines the relationship between scientific method and theology, and lays out his belief that religious differences could be resolved by a scientific approach.

In 1707 Verwer published his Linguae Belgicae Idea, grammatica, poetica, rhetorica; deprompta ex adversariis Anonymi Batavi: in usum proximi amici ("Grammar, poetry and rhetoric of the Belgian language, from the notes of an anonymous Dutchman, for the use of a close friend"), in which he criticises the Nederduitsche spraekkunst of Arnold Moonen, published in the previous year and based on the work of earlier writers such as Joost van den Vondel. Between 1708 and 1710 Verwer defended the position he had taken in the work in a number of open letters. His work was an important influence on two Dutch linguists, his friend Lambert ten Kate (1674–1731), and Balthazar Huydecoper (1695–1778). Like Verwer, ten Kate was a Mennonite merchant; his Gemeenschap tussen de Gottische Spraeke en de Nederduytsche, "Relationship between the Gothic language and Dutch", published in 1710, was written at Verwer's request, and consists in part of a letter to "A.V.", i.e., Adriaen Verwer. Verwer sent a presentation copy of this work to Adriaan Reland, professor at the University of Utrecht.

Verwer's work on maritime law, Nederlants see-rechten, avaryen, en bodemeryen, "Dutch maritime law, damages, and loans", was published in 1711. It was his most successful book and was reprinted in 1716, in 1730 and in 1764.

Verwer took a keen amateur interest in mathematics, and particularly admired Isaac Newton. His copy of the first edition of the Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica (1687), extensively annotated in his hand, is preserved in the Universiteitsbibliotheek Utrecht.

Adriaen Verwer died in Amsterdam on 31 March 1717.

Published works

The published works of Adriaen Verwer include:

Further reading

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