Acknowledgements

When I first had the idea for this book in 2014, I realized that I would need the help of others to write it. I have been fortunate that many people have been able to assist me in different ways, allowing me to reach my goal, which on occasion seemed unobtainable. I have no doubt that without the help of Professor Wim Boot, Emeritus Professor of Japanese at Leiden University, I would not have been able to write this book. Since January 2015, when I first met Professor Boot, he has always been just an email away. He has pointed me to valuable sources, sensitively corrected my errors and reviewed two of the chapters in this book, always with a dose of bonhomie. So, it is to Professor Boot that I dedicate this book.

Another scholar, whose help and encouragement have been invaluable to me, is Professor Nicoline van der Sijs. Her vision of the story of the Dutch language as one that goes far beyond the boundaries of the Low Countries is one that I share and her many books and articles on this subject have inspired me to pursue my own interest in it. Professor Van der Sijs was also kind enough to review an earlier version of a chapter in this book and I am extremely grateful to her for that.

A chance meeting at a Dutch Studies conference in 2018 brought me into contact with Professor Shimizu Makoto, Professor in Germanic Studies at Hokkaido University in Japan. He was kind enough to review two of my chapters and has been extremely generous with his time in answering queries about some of the more challenging aspects of this subject. I am also grateful to Natsue Heyward, who has been working as a research assistant for me in the final stages of this project. One feature of this book is that the personal names and Japanese primary sources are written in Roman script and Japanese script. Natsue’s remarkable diligence and thoroughness have been invaluable to me as I have prepared the manuscript for publication.

I was fortunate enough to be awarded an Isaac Alfred Ailion Fellowship in 2019, which allowed me to do research as a guest of the Scaliger Institute at Leiden University Library from October 2019 to January 2020. I am very grateful to the Ailion Foundation for the grant associated with this fellowship and to members of the selection committee, above all Dr. Kasper van Ommen, who acted as my host during the fellowship. I am also grateful to the late Professor Harm Beukers and Nadia Kreeft for their support.

I was able to take this research leave by permission of the Dean of the Faculty of English at Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Professor Joanna Pawelczyk, her predecessor, Professor Katarzyna Dziubalska-Kołaczyk, and the head of the department of Dutch and S. African studies, Professor Jerzy Koch. I am grateful to all of them for this period of leave and to colleagues who took classes in my absence. Other scholars have given me their time, advice and encouragement as I have written this book. They include Peter Austin, Olivier Bailblé, Anna Bogdan, Rebekah Clements, Elia da Corso, Ton Harmsen, Reinier Hesselink, Simon Kaner, Jill Kraye, Koos Kuiper, Radu Leca, Matsuda Kiyoshi, Wolfgang Michel, Jan Pekelder, Olf Praamstra, Martine Robbeets, Timon Screech, Anastasia Stefanaki, Ulrich Tiedau, Hans vande Velde, Aafke van Ewijk, Marc van Oostendorp, Joop van der Horst, Cynthia Viallé, Boudewijn Walraven and Guita Winkel.

I am also grateful to the many staff in libraries and archives whose help and advice I have relied on in writing this book. While in Leiden, I made constant use of the Special Collections as well as the general library collection and am grateful for the assistance provided by staff at the library. In Japan, I made several visits to the National Diet Library, Tokyo, the library of the Matsūra Historical Museum, Hirado, and Takeo City library, and am grateful to staff there for their help. Other libraries and archives whose staff I wish to thank include the British Library in London, the University of East Anglia Library and the Lisa Sainsbury Library in Norwich, and the Nationaal Archief in The Hague. Furthermore, thanks are due to Mr. Tadashi Koike at Waseda University Library, Tokyo for assisting me in gaining the necessary permissions for the many illustrations in this book from the Waseda collection.

A book is nothing without its publisher and I was delighted that Brill agreed to publish this book. The editor, Elisa Perotti, has been particularly helpful in guiding me through the publication process in a friendly and clear manner, and it has been invaluable to have Elisa’s support.

Finally, a word of thanks to family members. My sister Lyn has supported me in many ways during my academic career and I am grateful to her for this. My late father and mother, Richard and Christine, were also very supportive. It was on family holidays to the Low Countries that I first fell in love with the Dutch language. Both were geography teachers who gave me a love of maps and of travel and I am grateful to both of them for giving me the Wanderlust which has allowed me to write this book.

Professor Christopher Joby

Poznań, 2020