Wouter Nijhoff
Dutch, 1866 – 1947
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Wouter Nijhoff was a Dutch bookseller, antiquarian, and publisher.
Nijhoff was born in The Hague in 1866, the son of publisher Martinus Nijhoff and Emma Johanna Henriette Cool. After completing secondary school, Nijhoff trained as a bookseller and publisher. He learned the tricks of the trade at the publishers Baer in Frankfurt, Welter in Paris, and David Nutt in London. In 1891, he joined the family business, the Martinus Nijhoff publishing house, and was put in charge of running the company alongside his father. He would rule the company for more than 55 years. His father died in September 1894. Until 1906, his brother-in-law Boele van Hensbroek was responsible for managing the publishing house. After his departure, Nijhoff was solely responsible for the day-to-day running of the company. In 1910, he had new premises built on Lange Voorhout in The Hague. In the years that followed, the company expanded further. In 1917, his nephew Wouter, son of his brother Paulus, joined the company. This nephew would join the board of directors in 1928.
Nijhoff published various special works, including Dutch Cities in the 16th Century by cartographer Jacob van Deventer, the Encyclopedia of the Dutch East Indies, Northern Dutch Painting, the Handbook of Dutch Literary History, and the Handbook of the History of Dutch Architecture. From 1912 onwards, he was responsible for the publication of Het Boek, the magazine for books and libraries.
In addition, Nijhoff worked hard to establish a chair in Dutch at Columbia University in New York. He was the founder of the Linschoten-Vereeniging, which, in collaboration with his publishing house, published various old travelogues and ship's logs. He himself published various works, including in the field of bibliography. He also wrote a comprehensive study on the Nijhoff publishing family.
Nijhoff married Johanna Alida Seijn, daughter of Guillaume Paul Seijn and Anthonetta Jacoba de Kanter, on September 21, 1892, in The Hague. They had four children, two sons and two daughters. His youngest son, Dr. Guillaume Paul Nijhoff, died of typhoid fever in Batavia at the age of 36. His eldest son, Martinus Nijhoff, later became a poet. Nijhoff died in January 1947 at the age of 80 in his hometown of The Hague.
