Egodocuments and The Diary of Constantijn Huygens Jr.

Abstract

The Dutch historian Rudolf Dekker opens this essay with a review of the development of egodocument history before turning to an analysis of the diary of Constantijn Huygens Jr., the personal secretary of William of Orange, as an example of the genre’s potential. Dekker, from the perspective of one of the pioneers in the field, observes that late in the last century social historians (including many of the contributors to this volume), perceiving the limitations of social science quantitative methodologies, turned toward cultural and micro-history seeking to garner a perspective on the subjectivities of human experience, especially among common people. Diaries, letters, and autobiographies in this context emerged as ideal sources for analyzing everyday practices, common beliefs, and manners as the essays in this volume suggest. Huygens’ diary exemplifies this, offering a wealth of information about life in the seventeenth century, especially during the late Golden Age and the early Enlightenment, providing new information and new subjects for research on culture, politics, and society. Even more importantly, it offers insight on the emergence of a modern conception of time, the development of a new practice of diary writing, and the birth of a sociological look at society in general.