Herman Heijermans is the most important playwright of his generation. As director and manager of his own theatre company, he exercised great influence on the practical side of theatre. Almost every year since 1898, theatre-lovers in Amsterdam could see a new play by Heijermans, most of the time staged by the NV De Nederlandsche Toneelvereeniging. He enjoyed great fame at an international level too Heijermans was also an essayist: not only did he write about the contemporary theatre, but as a socialist he also dealt with the ideological background of his work.

The Heijermans collection of the Literary Museum covers the period 1878-1924. The basis of the collection is formed by the documents he legated. In the course of time, the collection has been supplemented with documents from other legacies and archives. It includes letters to and from Heijermans, (among which a number of copybooks), handwritten documents, typescripts (among which director’s and prompter’s copies), printer’s proofs, official and personal papers and a dedicated copy.

The manuscript of the play Op hoop van zegen (staged in 1900 for the first time) has been selected for this site (click 'inhoudsopgave' to browse through the document).

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