70 x De Avonden, 100 years
To celebrate Gerard Reve's 100th birth anniversary, Huis van het boek is organising the exhibition '70 x De Avonden, 100 years'. In it, all the Dutch covers of his famous debut novel De Avonden. (A Winter's Tale) on display.
Between 1947 and 2023, the book experienced 70 printings, according to the publisher. These 70 printings of an icon of Dutch literature also offer an overview of image-defining book designers of postwar Holland, including Ies Spreekmeester, Han de Vries, Karel Beunis, Jacques Janssen, Rick Vermeulen and Rudo Hartman. Accompanying the exhibition, a small edition of C.J. Aarts' The First Printing, a preview of the extensive bibliography of Reve's work in preparation, will be published by Fragment publishers.
Private collection
The most successful novel by Gerard Reve (1923-2006) was published under the partial pseudonym Simon van het Reve by publisher De Bezige Bij in November 1947. The Dutch covers of the book shown are largely from the collection of collector and Reve enthusiast Albert Wulffers. He bought his first copy on 5 December 1963 and thereafter passionately collected the various Dutch editions. Among them the first edition, the many reprints and Dick Matena's four-volume comic book adaptation from 2003-2005.
On 14 December 2024, Huis van het boek is organising a 'Revenement', with which the museum will close the Reve year. On that day, Albert Wulffers' two-volume publication on the work of Ies Spreekmeester and his successors as designers for De Avonden will also be published under the title Man with a hat must be a young man without a hat, also by Fragment publishers.