The Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde (English "Society of Dutch Literature", often abbreviated ''MNL'') is a prestigious and exclusive

literary society A literary society is a group of people interested in literature. In the modern sense, this refers to a society that wants to promote one genre of writing or a specific author. Modern literary societies typically promote research, publish newsle ...

. The MNL was established in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...

in 1766 and is still located there. At the moment, the society has approximately 1,600 members, mainly (although not exclusively) Dutch scholars. New members can only be elected after they are introduced by existing members. The MNL has two regional branches, for the Northern and the Southern part of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and also a representative in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

King Willem-Alexander Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born ) is King of the Netherlands, having acceded to the throne following his mother's abdication in 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht as the oldest child of Princess Beatr ...

is the patron of the MNL. Activities of the MNL include organizing literary and scholarly events, publishing (or supporting the publication of) books and several journals, granting several awards, and maintaining its library. The library of the MNL contains over a hundred thousand items, including thousands of unique letters and manuscripts, and the collections of several important Dutch literary figures. It has been located inside the

Leiden University Library Leiden University Libraries is a library founded in 1575 in Leiden, Netherlands. It is regarded as a significant place in the development of European culture: it is a part of a small number of cultural centres that gave direction to the developme ...

since October 1876. The MNL has founded the Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren (abbreviated ''DBNL''), a digital database of thousands of primary and secondary sources and works of most Dutch writers, in 1999. The Digital Library is as of 2020 being maintained by a collaboration of the Taalunie, Vlaamse Erfgoedbibliotheek (Flemish Libraries), and the

Royal Library of the Netherlands The Royal Library of the Netherlands (Dutch: Koninklijke Bibliotheek or KB; ''Royal Library'') is the national library of the Netherlands, based in The Hague, founded in 1798. The KB collects everything that is published in and concerning the Ne ...

. To celebrate its 250th anniversary the MNL commissioned a history of the Maatschappij published in 2016 by Leiden University Press: ''Al die onbekende beroemdheden. 250 jaar Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde'' edited by Ton van Kalmthout, Peter Sigmond & Aleid Truijens.

References

External links

Official website

Digital Library for Dutch Literature
{{Authority control Dutch writers' organisations 1766 establishments in the Dutch Republic

See also

References

External links