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Grafmonument van Anna Louisa Geertruida Bosboom-Toussaint (1812-1886). Photo by OSeveno –

Top 10 Unbelievable Facts about Anna Louisa Geertuida Bosboom – Toussaint

Bosboom-Toussaint is the best-known Dutch author of historical novels in the tradition of Walter Scott, but she did not have the passion that gave Scott his impulse to tell stories about a historic past.

Her passion was to recapture religious experiences, especially in times of great spiritual and social upheaval, such as the rise of the Reformation in the Netherlands.

1. Anna Louisa Geertruida Bosboom-Toussaint was born at Alkmaar in North Holland

      Anna Louisa Geertruida Bosboom-Toussaint. Photo by Rijksmuseum –

Anna Louisa Geertruida Bosboom-Toussaint was born at Alkmaar in North Holland on the 16th of September 1812. Her father, named Toussaint, was a local chemist of Huguenot descent.

2. She was given a fair education.

A portrait of Anna Louisa Geertruida Bosboom-Toussaint, Dutch writer (1812 – 1886). Photo by J.A. Ehnle / D.J. Sluyter –

At an early period of her career, Bosboom-Toussaint developed a taste for historical research, fostered, perhaps, by a forced indoor life, the result of weak health.

Her first romance, Almagro, appeared in 1837, followed by the Graaf van Devonshire (The Earl of Devonshire) in 1838; the Engelschen te Rome (The English at Rome) in 1840, and Het Huis Lauernesse (The House of Lauernesse) in 1841, an episode of the Reformation, translated into many European languages.

These stories, mainly founded upon some of the most interesting epochs of Dutch history, betrayed a remarkable grasp of facts and situations, combined with an undoubted mastery over her mother tongue, though her style is sometimes involved, and not always faultless.

3. Ten years of Anna’s life were mainly devoted to further studies

    Anna Louisa Geertruida Bosboom-Toussaint. Photo by Maurits Verveer (fotograaf) –

Ten years (1840 – 1850) were mainly devoted to further studies, the result of which was revealed in 1851-1854, when her Leycester in Nederland, Vrouwen van het Leycestersche Tydperk and Gideon Florensz appeared, a series dealing with Robert Dudley’s adventures in the Low Countries.

4. Major Frank has been translated into English (1885).

    Bosboom-Toussaint. Photo by Rijksmuseum –

After 1870 Mrs. Bosboom-Toussaint abandoned historical romance for the modern society novel, but her Delftsche Wonderdokter and Majoor Frans did not command the success of her earlier works.

Major Frank has been translated into English (1885).

5. Bosboom-Toussaint is the best-known Dutch author of historical novels

  Bosboom-Toussaint. Photo by Rijksmuseum – Wikimedia Commons

Bosboom-Toussaint is the best-known Dutch author of historical novels in the tradition of Walter Scott, but she did not have the passion that gave Scott his impulse to tell stories about a historic past.

6. Her passion was to recapture religious experiences

Bosboom-Toussaint. Photo by Rijksmuseum –

Her passion was to recapture religious experiences, especially in times of great spiritual and social upheaval, such as the rise of the reformation in the Netherlands.

In Bosboom-Toussaint’s novels, historical facts, diligently researched and often given in too much detail, serve only as the background for emotional involvement.

7. The attractiveness of the dominant characters in her best novels was striking

      Bosboom-Toussaint. Photo by B. Nijs –

The attractiveness of the dominant characters in her best novels is striking, such as Paul in Het Huis Lauernesse (1840, The House of Lauernesse), Gideon Florensz in the Leycester Cycle (1846–56), and Jan Jacobsz in De Delftsche wonderdokter (1870, The Wonder-doctor of Delft).

They are well-balanced people who, passionately devoted to the new religious ideas, stimulate others to emulate their high religious ideals. These ideals are the author’s own and are based on an evangelical belief in the Bible.

8. Bosboom-Toussaint was prejudiced against Catholicism

    Bosboom-Toussaint. Photo by Rijksmuseum –

Bosboom-Toussaint was prejudiced against Catholicism, as represented by Capuchins, Dominicans, and Jesuits in her novels, but dealt with Catholics sincerely and honestly in daily life.

Her novels are frequently ambiguous because she tried to combine the techniques of the picaresque novel with those of the novel of character. Her peculiar talent, and her greatest achievement, lie in the second field, wherein she exhibits deep psychological insight.

9. Bosboom-Toussaint abandoned historical romance for the modern society novel

    Bosboom-Toussaint. Photo by Rijksmuseum – Wikimedia Commons

This develops in her later novels and reaches a peak in the best, Major Francis (1874), a psychological study of an unconventional young woman who is molded into a fine character by love.

Ten years (1840–1850) were mainly devoted to further studies, the result of which was revealed in 1851–1854, when her Leycester in Nederland, Vrouwen van het Leycestersche Tydperk, and Gideon Florensz, appeared, a series dealing with Robert Dudley’s adventures in the Low Countries.

After 1870 Mrs. Bosboom-Toussaint abandoned historical romance for the modern society novel, but her Delftsche Wonderdokter and Majoor Frans did not command the success of her earlier works. Major Frank has been translated into English (1885).

10. She died at the Hague on the 13th of April 1886

Bust of writer “A.L.G. Bosboom-Toussaint” made by August Falise in 1912. Placed at the corner of the Kennemerstraatweg/Wilhelminalaan in Alkmaar. Photo by Brbbl –

 Anna Loisa Geertuida died at the Hague on the 13th of April 1886. Her novels have been published there in a collected edition.