Hyleke Gockinga (1723–1793): Catechist, Translator, And Commentator

By Adriaan Neele

[Adriaan Neele is Director of the Doctoral Program and Professor of Historical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, MI.]

Abstract

Hyleke Gockinga (1723–1793), the “Anna Maria Schuurman of Groningen,” is one of the famed but forgotten women of the early modern period of the Dutch Republic. Gockinga is absent in women’s studies, overviews of biblical interpretation, research on John Owen (1616–1683), and other encyclopedia and handbooks of Dutch history and late orthodoxy of Reformed Protestantism. This article offers for the first time a comprehensive overview of Gockinga’s life and work in an age of tolerance and evangelical enlightenment, including that of a catechist of the church, a translator of a Puritan work, and a commentator on the book of Genesis.

Introduction

Hyleke Gockinga (1723–1793), the “Anna Maria Schuurman of Groningen,” is one of the famed but forgotten women of the early modern period of the Dutch Republic. Gockinga is absent in women’s studies, overviews of biblical interpretation, research on John Owen (1616–1683), and other encyclopedia and handbooks of Dutch history and late orthodoxy of Reformed Protestantism.[1] Gockinga’s comparison with Anna Maria van Schurman (1607–1678) is reflected in her grave poem (graf gedicht),

Familiar with Greeks and Romans
And Arab and Brit and Gaul
Whose pure virtue and pure morals
No Christian will ever forget
An example without parallel
Was the noblewoman Hyleke Gockinga.[2]

Despite or thanks to the favorable association with the pious and learned van Schurman, a student of Gisbertus Voetius (1585–1676) at the university of Utrecht, and epitome of De pietate cum scientia conjugenda (On Piety joined with Academics), Gockinga’s life and work are worth examining—considering her context in political and intellectual history in the Dutch Republic, the state of religion at that time, her translations of religious works, and authoring a Bible commentary, as well as the lack of attention to her in varied scholarship.

Following the Dutch Golden Age of the seventeenth century, the Dutch Republic of the Seven United Provinces of the eighteenth century was in decline, whether real or perceived.[3] The disaffection of the middle-class with the state of the economy corresponded to a growing estrangement with the political system. The Dutch Republic lost her status as international leader on the seas and in finance and trade, and gained a domestic struggle between those supporting the House of Orange and the Patriots (Oranjegezinden and Patriotten). The Patriots were burghers of the Dutch Republic who promoted democracy and advocated the ending of the political absolutism of William V, Prince of Orange—a political instability that would affect Gockinga at the end of her life. This era of Dutch history also parallels the Periwig Age (pruikentijd), a period of high fashion, which Gockinga’s piety deplored—though she seem to accord with a more natural look, the silhouette, which became more prevalent at the close of the century.[4] That is not to say she was withdrawn from her time, as she participated in land development and the exploitation and sale of peat, which became prominent in the eighteenth century in the north of the republic, the province of Groningen included. Furthermore, Gockinga was a participant in the high society that owned country homes (buitenplaatsen).

In regard to the intellectual history of the time, the rise of the Enlightenment stimulated the transition of historical descriptive sciences to an analytical experimental science, despite the coat of arms of the University of Groningen stating Verbum Domini Lucerna Pedibus Nostris (The word of the Lord is a light for our feet). The close relationship between the university and the city of Groningen and the surrounding region resulted in a bond between the nobility, university professors, and high-ranking civil officials—connections that benefitted Gockinga. Although the university faced declining numbers of students due to theological and political challenges and conflicts, Gockinga’s admiration for the professors in theology is noteworthy. In sum, Gockinga’s time can be characterized as an age of tolerance and evangelical enlightenment—both reflected the contemporary state of religion.

II. Hyleke Gockinga: Life And Work

1. Catechist Of The Church

Gockinga was born in 1723 into a prominent family, her father being a senator of the local university, the University of Groningen. Little is known concerning her upbringing, but family ties with the university may have contributed to her education. Her name is absent from the Album studiosorum Academiae groningana (Student album Groningen Academy), but Gockinga praises professor Michael Bertling (1710–1772), together with Rev. J. F. van Oostbroek (1702–1752), for educating her from childhood.[5] Her knowledge of Greek, Latin, Arabic, English, French, German, and Hebrew besides Dutch was exceptional, as was her translation work and biblical interpretation.

In 1742 Gockinga made a profession of faith and was appointed by the church to offer public catechesis. Public catechesis arose from the medieval era; distinct from preaching, it was aimed at instructing the unlearned in matters of faith, Decalogue, prayer (Pater Noster), and sacraments, whereas the learned were expected to do self-study.[6] This public catechesis was offered not necessarily by school teachers, though active as catechists from the Protestant Reformation onwards, but also by ministerial students. The focus of the teaching was the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) or a specific book of the Bible. In general, weekly and public catechesis became obsolete in most churches, though an 1816 synod of the Reformed Church in the Dutch Republic reminds the delegates not to dismiss this type of catechesis completely—a tradition the church of Groningen long held, and Gockinga’s role should not go unnoticed.[7] In fact, her lectures in church were learned, as Gockinga later attests in the preface to her Genesis commentary that the printed edition concurs with the public catechesis “without essential difference.”[8] Ties with the university were strengthened from 1751 onwards by her correspondence with Paulus Chevallier (1722–1795), who was appointed in 1752 as professor of dogmatics, homiletics, and hermeneutics. On the day of his inauguration another dogmaticus was appointed, Michael Bertling (1710–1772), who was appreciative of the theology of Reformed orthodoxy, as demonstrated by his use of Johannes à Marck’s Compendium theologiae Christianae didactico-elencticum (Compendium of Christian didactical-elenctical theology) in his lectures and approval of the works of the “Scottish puritan” James Durham (1622–1658).[9]

2. Translator Of Puritan Work

In 1760 Gockinga requested Chevallier to acquire via Hugh Kennedy (1698–1768) of the Scottish Church at Rotterdam or the Scot Alexander Comrie (1706–1774) of the Reformed Church at Woubrugge a copy of John Owen’s work Salus electorum, sanguis Jesu, or, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ.[10]

Soon thereafter, she commenced the translation, but with intermissions. This work by John Owen was, according to Gribben, “not to become Owen’s magnum opus … but it would certainly be recognized by contemporary readers as his most significant work.”[11]

The translation of religious works, in particular those concerning Reformed doctrine and practice, was not uncommon in the mid eighteenth century. In regard to the works of Owen, mention can be made of the translators: the opulent merchant, Simon Commenicq (d. 1756), Cornelis Brem (1722–1803), and Jan Ross (1714–1766)—all three belonging to the Scottish church at Rotterdam; Alexander Comrie; Johann Hofman (1666–1735); J. van de Velde; the jeweler, elder catechetical teacher of the English church at Leiden, Abel van Keulen (ca. 1700–1751); the ministers Jacob ·us van Strijen (1662–1727), Marinus Hoog (1690–1766), and Salomon Bor; the pastor and rector of the Latin school at Schoonhoven, Herman van der Horst (1692–1765).[12] In sum, the primary translators of Owen’s work were men and ministers of the Reformed Church in the Dutch Republic and those connected to Scotland—the exception being the translator Hyleke Gockinga, who was a woman and not a minister. In a broader context, for example, works of Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) of New England were translated into Dutch, with key promoter Cornelis Brem; and Latin works were rendered into Dutch, such as the translation of the Theoretico-practica theologia (Theoretical-practical theology) by Petrus van Mastricht (1630–1706) as Beschouwende praktikale godgeleerdtheid—a translation by a minister of the Reformed Church and rector of the Latin school at Woerden, Boudewyn ter Braak (1697–1748).[13] The decline of Latin as theological language may have been a catalyst for such translations of religious works, as was the knowledge of English in the Dutch Republic “restricted to a comparatively small circle,” but it may also been in opposition to the many translations into Dutch of English enlightened theologians, such as the latitudinarian Simon Patrick (1625–1707), the Anglican theologian Daniel Whitby (1638–1726), and Samuel Clark (1675–1729), among others.[14] In fact, these authors may have contributed to the views of many ministers appropriating “a more enlightened form of theological thinking, which tried to bring into balance the claims of ‘reason’ and ‘revelation’ which accentuated God’s love and beneficence more strongly than his wrath and justice and which was more tolerant in its attitude than Dutch theology used to be.”[15] Gockinga’s translation of Owen’s work, then, may have been an antidote to the prevailing enlightened theological tendencies, but was part of the peak time of publications of Dutch religious works, and translations of English religious works into Dutch, as suggested by Van Lieburg (fig. 1).[16]

Figure 1. Graph showing a timeline of the number of publications of Dutch religious works and translations of English religious works into Dutch (Van Lieburg).

In the meantime, Gockinga became an important landlady around the city of Groningen by acquiring land and properties, and her work of translation and other writings took place primarily at her estate Buitenlust, a place built in 1762 by the Rev. Rudolf Ottinga and bought by Gockinga for 4,000 guilders.[17] In 1765 Gerardus Kuypers (1722–1798) was appointed professor of homiletics, dogmatics, and exegesis. Kuypers previously served the Reformed congregation at Nijkerk and was the leading figure in the revival of ca. 1749–1755, Nijkerkse beroeringen (Nijkerk awakenings), the “Dutch Great Awakening” contested throughout the Republic.[18] The former revival preacher showed himself to be a moderate supporter of the Enlightenment.[19] The religious context of the 1750s onward in Groningen, therefore, represented the Reformed orthodoxy of the time—an enlightened and moderate Voetian and Cocceian tradition.

Gockinga’s interest, however, was broader than theology, as attested by her subscription of the translated travelogue by George Anson, Reize near de Zuidzee met het schip De Wager (Travels to the South Sea with the ship The Wager). As the only woman among the four subscribers from Groningen, and only one of the three women in the list of approximately 750 subscribers, Gockinga was certainly unusual.[20]

In March 1767 she took up again the translation of Owen’s work, for which publication she wrote an extensive preface dated September 17, 1767. Noteworthy is the thirty-plus-page Voorreden over de Gemeenschap der Heiligen (Preface about the Communion of Saints), as understood by Gockinga but not articulated by Owen. Furthermore, though the future vice-chancellor of Oxford University wrote Salus electorum, sanguis Jesu in response to Thomas Moore’s The Universality of God’s Free Grace (1646), a work representative of the rise of Arminianism in Owen’s view, such concern was lacking in the Dutch context. In fact, absent in the translation is the dedicatory epistle by Owen and “two attestations touching the ensuing treatise” by Stanley Gower and Richard Byfield, as well as Owen’s preface on the doctrine of redemption. Here, Owen’s particular attention is to “the doctrine of the satisfaction of Christ, his merit, and the reconciliation wrought thereby, understood aright by few, and of late oppugned by some, being so neerly related to the point of Redemption…”[21]

In contrast, Gockinga justifies her preface by highlighting that the church, since the fourth century, due to the Donatist schism, confessed with the Creed, and believed by the Communion of Saints—which “our excellent Heidelberg divines” explicate—“that everyone is duty-bound to use his gifts readily and cheerfully for the benefit and well-being of the other members.”[22] With that in mind she addresses three points in the preface: first, a person who, “in the words of Scripture” and “in the narrow sense is called a Saint”; second, the duty and privilege of a saint to exercise communion with others; and third, an application. According to Gockinga’s first point, a saint or believer is not so much one “having saving grace, pure in doctrine of truth, as contained in the books of the Old and New Testament, and these reasonably or rationally embraced, confessed and dutiful experienced,” but rather “a person who is devoted to God, and demonstrates such in one’s conduct by grace.”[23] A saint, Gockinga continues, has been made alive (Eph 2:5) but should know himself as a “poor, hell- and death-worthy sinner,” coming into the world condemned through Adam’s guilt, being deeply humbled.[24] A saint is a “naked and nude” who exists and lives before God, all spiritual experiences worked by the Holy Spirit. In this way the gospel is opened for the Mediator, and so “comes at last that saving and happy hour, that moment in which God the Holy Spirit clears up all mist of darkness … and [one] is favored to receive Christ.”[25] In sum, this pietistic pattern of conversion resonates, however, more with the Heidelberg Catechism than with Gockinga’s provincial contemporary Wilhelmus Schortinghuis (1700–1750) in his Innige Christendom (Devout Christendom).[26] Moreover, second, for the translator of Owen’s work, “when one has been united with Christ, such a one desires to live as a Christian.”[27] Accordingly, a Christian exercises piety at home, in society, and in public worship (Gal 5:22–26) and is convinced that without Christ nothing is possible (John 15:5).[28] For this reason, Christians should have communion with one another; they are united, as members of Christ; they have a certain right of each other’s possessions—material (lichaamlyke) and spiritual; they share in times of prosperity and adversity; they pray for each another; and they spend their gifts for the benefit of others, “as I say with the excellent Heidelbergers.”[29] This all applies, according to Gockinga, to pastors, but also to church members, and she writes self-referentially, “in particular the women assisting the pastors for the benefit of the church.”[30] Third, Gockinga “images a panorama of one, who rightly is a living member of the Church, with Christ, the head.” That picture is found in the “outstanding man of God, Owen,” a primus inter pares, and she commends that “one should live by his experiential works.”[31] Gockinga asserts that Owen wrote many books—“a list can be found in P. Bonnet, minister at Rotterdam, in the preface of Owen on Ps. 130, though some works have not been translated.”[32] In the preface Paulus Bonnet asserts in 1762 that several works have been translated into “our language,” including the “excellent commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews.”[33] Furthermore, he list works of Owen in Latin, such as Θεολογουμενα παντοδαπα, sive de natura, ortu, progressu et studio verae Theologiae (All sorts of theological statements concerning the nature, rise, progress, and study of true theology, 1661), Diatriba de Iustitia divina (Discourse concerning divine justice, 1653), Pro Sacris Scripturis Exercitationes (Sacred Scripture Exercises, 1658). Bonnet also lists works of Owen in English but renders translations of the titles in Dutch, among them, De volharding der Heiligen (1654) (The doctrine of the saints’ perseverance, explained and confirmed), Verzameling van Predikatien “posthumously published” (Seventeen sermons preach’d by the Reverend Dr. John Owen, 1720), De pligt van Leeraaren en Gemeentes (The duty of pastors and people distinguished, 1644), and Salus electorum sanguis Jesu: of, de dood van den dood, in den dood van Christus) (Death of death in the death of Christ, 1648).[34] In regard to the latter, whereas Owen’s preface concentrates on Christ, Gockinga’s concern is primarily about the Christian. Furthermore, although translators of Owen’s work into Dutch offered at times introductory prefaces, these were related to the translated work—as such Gockinga is unusual.[35] Finally, she states her translation method as being “faithful to the meaning” though “not bound to the grammar” of the author and excluded the material related to the “Church of England of that time.”[36] In that regard, Gockinga not only shows that translation is a form of interpretation but also that her translation is toward her own language and culture, that is, she takes into account linguistic or semantic as well as cultural considerations, though her main concern in the preface is of an edifying nature.[37]

Her translated work of Owen was announced the year before publication in December 1768 through the regional newspapers, the Opregte Groningen Courant (Sincere Groningen Newspaper) and the Leeuwarder Courant (Leeuwarden Newspaper).[38] The approbation of the work, in accordance with article 55 of the Church Order of Dort (1619), was clearly written in masculine terms—nonetheless, Gockinga received the required approval issued by the professors of theology at Groningen University.[39] Chevallier, Bertling, Cremer, and Kuypers attested to have read the translated work, as well as the preface by Gockinga, and found them to be in agreement to “the doctrine which is according to godliness” and the three “Forms of Unity,” which are accepted “by our churches.” The book was expensive, the equivalent of three times a carpenter’s daily wages or approximately the equivalent of US $250 in today’s monetary value.[40] The work was extensively reviewed in 1773 by the Maendelyke uittreksels of de Boekzaal der geleerde wereld (Monthly excerpts or Bookroom of the Learned World), which wrote that “the name Owen is for a long time well-known in our country,” as is also “acknowledged by the honorable Lady Gockinga.”[41] “She,” the reviewer continued, “is not unwell-known, and benefitted others with her gifts … to the honor of country and church … [including] her edifying preface, which we approve.”[42]

3. Commentator Of Scripture

That same year Gockinga inaugurated her public catechism on the book of Genesis under the auspices of pastors Petrus Abresh (1735–1812) and Nicolaas van de Tuuk (1739–1809). Her religious duties, however, did not diminish Gockinga’s secular activities, such as expanding land ownership (1779); the sale of turf from her large acreage of land, though through appointed agents (1780); and the sale of the Buitenlust estate (1784), exchanging it for a home in the city of Groningen.[43] That year also brought an era of political instability to the province. The rule of the Prince of Orange, the stadtholder William V, was opposed more and more by the anti-Orangists, the Patriotten (Patriots), advocating a democratization of the republic without the rule of the House of Orange. Although Gockinga did not participate in the conflict, she ceased her correspondence in 1780 with Chevallier, due to his alignment with the Patriots. Gockinga’s public catechism on the book of Genesis, commenced in 1773, resulted eventually in the publication of a Bible commentary: volume 1, part 1 (1788), was followed by volume 1, part 2 (1789), volume 2, part 1 (1790), volume 2, part 2 (1791), and volume 3 (1793).[44] This commentary is remarkable in various ways: first, Gockinga was the first woman in the Dutch Republic who publicly taught in the church and published a Scripture commentary; second, it was the first stand-alone Bible commentary on the book of Genesis in the Dutch language; third, the work was approbated by the faculty of theology—not a trivial matter; fourth, the approach she employed in the commentary was a theoretical and practical exposition.[45] Her Genesis commentary, then, consists of a verse-by-verse analysis from the translated Hebrew text, with a concluding paragraph that is practical and edifying in nature. The professors lauded the work as “being written with much clarity and persuasion, perceptive in biblical wisdom, balanced in interpretive judgement, very broad in knowledge, with theoretical and practical truth of our loving religion.”[46] Her knowledge of Hebrew and Greek is frequently displayed as well as Arabic.[47] Furthermore, her acquaintance with works of Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089–1167), the critical biblical interpreter Jean Le Clerc (1657–1736), the Dutch mathematician and anthropologist Johannes Lulofs (1711–1768), the poets Lucas Trip (1713–1783) and Jodocus van Lodensteyn (1620–1677), the German Johann Jakob Scheuchzer (1672–1733), the Leiden exegete André Rivet (1572–1651), the Dutch Hebraist Nicolaus Wilhelm Schroeder (1721–1798), Franeker theologian Herman Venema (1697–1787), and the philosopher Dionysius van de Wynpersse (1724–1808) is nothing less than extraordinary.[48]

Also, Gockinga’s commentary was remarkable when placed in the context of the eighteenth century, which was marked by the publication of three major commentaries on the entire Bible in Dutch. First, the Verklaring van de geheele Heilige Schrift, door eenigen van de voornaamste Engelsche godgeleerden (Commentary on the entire Bible by some of the principal English divines) was edited by the Leiden professor Johann van den Honert (1693–1758). This seventeen-volume commentary, published between 1739 and 1757, is derived from the works of the English exegetes Patrick, Poole, and Wells. At the same time, the Letterlijke en practicale Bijbelverklaring (Literal and Practical Commentary on the Whole Bible) came to the Dutch market—an ecumenical work of fifty-six volumes edited and compiled from translations of commentaries by Matthew Henry (1622–1714) as well as exegetical material by the Lutheran commentator Christoph Starke (1684–1744), the Anglican exegete Thomas Stackhouse (1677–1752), and the Roman Catholic expositor Augustine Calmet, O.S.B. (1672–1757), with added annotations by the Dutch editors.[49] Last but not least, the mathematician, philosopher, pastor, and professor Jacob van Nuys Klinkenberg (1744–1812), published a twenty-seven volume De Bijbel, door beknopte uitbreidingen en ophelderende aenmerkingen verklaerd (The Bible, brief augmentations with clarifying annotations explained).[50] In sum, Gockinga’s commentary on the book of Genesis is noteworthy and deserves more attention than is offered in scholarship. As such, the Nieuwe algemeene vaderlandsche Letter-oefeningen (New general patriotic literary exercises) was ahead of its time by offering a comprehensive review, noting Gockinga’s exposition that Noah’s ark could have offered room for the animals, showing her knowledge of mathematics and agriculture, estimating that two horses require fifty-six square feet; an ox needs per day fifteen pounds of hay, which amount of hay requires ten square feet; in sum, “there was sufficient room for men and beast.”[51] Such interpretative comments are more detailed than in the works of Van den Honert and Klinkenberg, though they not completely absent from those works.[52] The Dutch literary-cultural journal notices, furthermore, the practical application offered by “Lady Gockinga” on Noah’s ark: first, “God wants to save us by using means”; second, “we have to work for our redemption and those of others” (she elaborates, “The Lord doesn’t need our work, but wants to save us along such a way”); and third, one must depend on God for such deliverance.[53] Such application is missing in Van den Honert and Klinkenberg’s commentary, for example. The rise in Germany of biblical criticism, the discussion on Mosaic authorship of Genesis, the creation in six literal days, Deism, and the extent and historicity of Gen 1–3 and the Deluge (Gen 6–8) seem not a concern of Gockinga, while Van den Honert displays awareness of these rising issues of biblical interpretation in the eighteenth century.[54] Gockinga, like Klinkenberg, affirms Moses as the writer of Genesis, the “story of the six-day creation of the world”; the historicity of Gen 1–3; and a world-wide, cataclysmic, and historical flood.[55] But it is Gockinga who shows awareness about the discussion of the extent of the flood, noting, “It is known that there are from ancient times, who understand this flooding being only a part of the earth, though there is no basis for this … as we hold as truthful, that the entire earth was flooded by the Deluge.”[56] Moreover, she offers reasons for this conviction, unlike passing over the motives of those who asserted a partial flood. First, there is biblical evidence, which is “obvious in the next chapter vs. 19–23, ” according to Gockinga. Second, there is “reason,” as “water is a fluid that by itself can’t climb to such a height,” that is, this is a divine miracle; and third, the “entire preparation of the Ark was not necessary”—if it was a local flood humanity and animals could have escaped to other parts of the earth.[57] Klinkenberg, on the contrary, does not address the issue, which may be due to the purpose of the commentary, “for the encouragement of family worship” around the Bible.[58]

The release of the third volume of her commentary coincided with Gockinga’s death on December 10, 1793. A “mourning poem” (treurgedicht) and other poems were immediately issued referring to her as a “Dorcas,” a “Deborah, for Groningen’s church a guardian,” a “rare exceptional light,” and a “show jewel among women.”[59] The Groningen painter and poet Douwe Lofvers (1769–1814) captured the character of the deceased Gockinga when a memorial gravestone was erected in March 1794:

Bekend met Grieken en Romeinen
En Arabier en Brit en Gal
Wier reine deugd en zuivre zeden
Geen Christen ooit vergeten zal
Een voorbeeld zonder wederga
Was de eedele Hyleke Gockinga.[60]

Volume four of her Bible commentary was published posthumously in 1796, bringing the series to more than 2,100 pages of exegetical and practical reflections. Gockinga concluded her massive commentary—arising from her church lectures, the public catechesis—with a practical reflection on Gen 50:26, “Finally, Joseph’s brothers teach us that we should show honor and loyalty to our relatives, especially when they are our benefactors … even, if possible, after their death.”[61] Soon thereafter, however, the “Anna Maria Schuurman of Groningen” was forgotten.[62]

III. Conclusion

In summary, Hyleke Gockinga was a remarkable woman in her time—a well-educated and wealthy property owner, benefactor, public catechist, translator, and biblical interpreter. Considering the context of the Dutch political history of the eighteenth century, it seems she sided with the Orangists, who were favored by the aristocracy. As such, Gockinga was a woman of her time, though not leading a life of leisure (rentenieren) but participating in commercial entrepreneurship. In regards to the context of Dutch intellectual history, Gockinga benefitted from her family connections with the University of Groningen, while having learning exceptional for her time. This extraordinary erudition was deployed within the context and in the service of the church, through teaching, translating, and work of biblical interpretation. Her teaching and position as catechist, the rendering into Dutch of one of the pivotal works of Owen, as well as writing and publishing a Bible commentary were all remarkable accomplishments.

Notes

1. Joel R. Beeke, “The Reception of John Owen in Early Modernity,” in John Owen between Orthodoxy and Modernity, ed. Willem van Vlastuin and Kelly M. Kapic (Leiden: Brill, 2019); D. Baarssen, “Enkele opmerkingen over de receptive van de geschriften van Johan Owen (1616–1683) door Alexander Comrie (1706–1774), Documentatieblad Nadere Reformatie 38 (2014): 27–45; Donald K. McKim, Dictionary of Major Biblical Interpreters (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2017); Willem op ‘t Hof, ed., Encyclopedie Nadere Reformatie, 2 vols. (Utrecht: Uitgeverij De Groot Goudriaan, 2015–2016); Herman J. Selderhuis, ed., Handbook of Dutch Church History (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015); Selderhuis, A Companion to Reformed Orthodoxy (Leiden: Brill, 2013); Els Kloek, ed., 1001 vrouwen uit de Nederlandse geschiedenis (Nijmegen: Vantilt, 2013); Kelly Kapic and Mark Jones, eds., The Ashgate Research Companion to John Owen’s Theology (Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2012); Marion Ann Taylor, ed., Handbook of Women Biblical Interpreters: A Historical and Biographical Guide (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012); Margaret R. Hunt, Women in Eighteenth-Century Europe (London: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2010). An exception is P. J. Blok and P. C. Molhuysen, Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek, 10 vols. (Leiden: A. W Sijtshoff’s Uitgevers-Maatschappij, 1911–1937), vol. 5: “Gockinga, Hyleke, geb. 31 Oct. 1723, overl. 9 Dec. 1793, dochter van Henric G. en Tateke Helena Sichterman. Zij had zich bijzonder op de kennis der talen en wetenschappen toegelegd, en heeft boeken over de Heilige Schrift nagelaten.”
2. Pieta van Beek, “Vrouwen toen en nu: Hyleke Gockinga (1723–1793), een tweede Anna Maria van Schurman,” Handreiking 48, no. 5 (2018): 24–25; “Een voorbeeld zonder wederga, was de eedele Hyleke Gockinga,” Groninganus, https://groninganus.wordpress.com/2015/01/21/een-voorbeeld-zonder-wederga-was-de-eedele-hyleke-gockinga. For an extensive overview of the life, work, and scholarship on van Schurman, see http://annamariavanschurman.org, curated by Pieta van Beek.
3. See, for example, Jonathan Israel, Enlightenment Contested: Philosophy, Modernity, and the Emancipation of Man, 1670–1752 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006); Israel, The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall, 1477–1806 (Oxford, Clarendon, 1995); Simon Shama, The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987).
4. Women’s fashion was characterized by high-fashioned hairstyles, showy clothing, and crinoline. These features are absent in a silhouette of Hyleke Gockinga. Cf. https://groninganus.wordpress.com/2015/01/21/een-voorbeeld-zonder-wederga-was-de-eedele-hyleke-gockinga/; Peter McNeil, ed., A Cultural History of Dress and Fashion in the Age of Enlightenment (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017), 64–67.
5. Hyleke Gockinga, preface to John Owen, Salus electorum sanguis Jesu of de Dood van den Dood in den Dood van Christus … Nu in het Nederlantsch vertaald, en met een Voorreden over de GEMEENSCHAP de HEILIGEN voorzien, door HYLEKE GOCKINGA (Groningen: Jacob Bolt, 1768), xxv–xxvi: “Hoog Geleerden Heer M. Bertling, Hoog Leraar aan deze Plaats, aan wiens uitnement onderwys, van myne kindsheid af, ik nooit als met dankbaarheid kan te rugge denke…” (emphasis added). On the issue of matriculation, registration was not mandatory before 1815, and her brother Scato and cousin Hermannus both matriculated on December 27, 1728, as “Gratis in honorem ampl. Patrui senatoris.” Cf. Pieta van Beek, De eerste student: Anna Maria van Schurman (1636) (Utrecht: Stichting Matrijs, 2004), 54; van Beek, The First Female University Student: Anna Maria van Schurman (1636) (Utrecht: Igitur, 2010), 58.
6. Anne Troelstra, “De toestand der catechese in Nederland gedurende de voor-reformatorische eeuw” (PhD diss., Utrecht University, 1901), 104–32.
7. J. J. Oosterzee, Practische theologie: een handboek voor jeugdige godgeleerden (Utrecht: Kemink & Zoon, 1895), 1:218–19. See further, Aegidius Gillissen and Godewardus Vrolikhert, Vlissingsche kerkhemel, ofte Levensbeschryving van alle de hervormde Leeraren (Vlissingen: Pieter de Paaynaar; Middelburg: Gabriel Clement, 1758), 286. See also “Gillissen, Aegidius,” Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek, 4:656–57.
8. Hyleke Gockinga, preface to vol. 1 of Verhandeling over het eerste Bybel-boek, genoemd Genesis, vervattende de oudste gebeurenissen der wereld, benevens eenen schat van waarheden, die de gronden en zuilen van alle waaren godsdienst zyn, door Jongvrouwe H. Gockinga (Groningen: Jacob Bolt, 1788).
9. Paulus Chevallier, Oratio inauguralis, de fructibus, qui ex juste temperata cogitandi libertate in theologum redundant (Groningen: Nicolai Jacobi Crans, 1752); Michael Bertling, Oratio inauguralis de modestia modestaque sapientia, theologo digna ac necessaria: publice habita Groningae in choro templi academci (Groningen: Nicolai Jacobi Crans, 1752). “Chevallier, Paulus,” Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek, 4:418–23. Bertling wrote prefaces to the translated works of James Durham, Hemel op aarde of verscheidene predikatiën (1747) and Christus gekruyst of het merg des Evangeliums (1752). See also “Bertling, Michael,” Biographisch woordenboek van protestantsche godgeleerden in Nederland, ed. Hugo Visscher and Lambregt van Langeraad (Utrecht: Kemink & Zoon, 1907), 1:439–40.
10. Utrecht University Library, MS Archive Chevallier, “Brieven van Hyleke Gockinga (1723–1793) aan Paulus Chevallier (1722–1796).” The letter referring to Kennedy and Comrie is dated July 14, 1760. Gockinga requests the 1648 edition of Owen’s work (London: Printed by W. W. for Philemon Stephens, 1648). Several letters from Gockinga are closed in French. For example, “Mille fois tout à vous, Votre Hyleke,” and “Tout à vous, H.G.” For a discussion of the Frenchification of Dutch, see Willem Frijhoff, “Verfransing? Franse taal en Nederlandse cultuur tot in de revolutietijd,” Bijdragen en Mededelingen betreffende de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden 104 (1989): 592–609.
11. For a recent analysis of this work in historical context, see Crawford Gribben, John Owen and English Puritanism: Experiences of Defeat (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), 84–86.
12. John Owen, Φρόνημα του Πνεύματος[Phronēma tou pneumatos] of De genade en pligt, om geestelijk gezind te zijn: Verklaard, en op de practijk toegepast, sonder het welke niemand in eenige religie, leven en vrede heeft, trans. J. van de Velde (Amsterdam: Jacob van de Velde, 1688); Owen, Φρόνημα του Πνεύματος, of de, Genade en pligt om geestelyk-gezind te zyn: Verklaert en ter betragting aengedrongen, trans. Jacobus van Strijen and Marinus Hoog (Rotterdam: Hermanus Kentlink, 1728); Owen, Evangely-gronden en baerblykelykheden van het gelove van Gods uytverkorenen, trans. Abel van Keulen (Leiden: Johannes Hasebroek, 1738); Owen, Christologia, of Een verklaring van de heerlyke verborgentheyt van Christus, trans. Salomon Bor (Rotterdam: Reinier van Doesburg, 1694); Owen, De leere van de H. Drie-eenheyd, trans. Herman van der Horst (Utrecht: J. H. Vonck van Lynden, 1746); Owen, Verklaring van den CXXXsten Psalm, trans. J. Ross en C. Brem (Leiden: Johannes Hasebroek; Amsterdam: Nicolaas Byl, 1763); Owen, De heerschappy der zonde en genade, trans. Cornelis Brem (Leiden: Joh. Hazebroek en zoon; Amsterdam: Nicolaas Byl, 1763).
13. Jonathan M. Yeager, Jonathan Edwards and Transatlantic Print Culture (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016), 142–43; Adriaan C. Neele, “Exchanges in Scotland, the Netherlands, and America: The Reception of the Theoretico-practica theologia and A History of the Work of Redemption,” in Jonathan Edwards and Scotland, ed. Kenneth P. Minkema, Adriaan C. Neele, and Kelly Van Andel (Edinburgh: Dunedin Academic Press, 2011), 21–48.
14. Here I follow J. van den Berg, “Eighteenth-century Dutch Translations of the Works of Some British Latitudinarian and Enlightened Theologians,” Nederlands Archief voor Kerkgeschiedenis 59, no. 2 (1979): 200. For more recent publications regarding English-Dutch translations of pietistic works, see J. van de Kamp, “Networks and Translation within the Republic of Letters: The Case of Theodore Haak (1605–1690),” in Translation and the Circulation of Knowledge in Early Modern Science, ed. K. A. E. Enenkel, S. Fransen, and N. Hodson (Brill: Leiden, 2017), 41–65; van de Kamp, “De omgang met teksten in de vroegmoderne tijd: de gereformeerde predikant Theodor Undereyck (1635–1693) als lezer, vertaler, schrijver en instigator,” in Pietas reformata: Religieuze vernieuwing onder gereformeerden in de vroegmoderne tijd, ed. J. van de Kamp, A. Goudriaan, and W. van Vlastuin (Zoetermeer: Boekencentrum, 2015), 247–60; van de Kamp, “De vertaalstrategieën van de Nederlandse vertalers van de geschriften van Christopher Love,” in Nederlandse liefde voor Christopher Love (1618–1651): Studies over het vertaalde werk van een presbyteriaanse puritein, ed. W. J. op ‘t Hof and F. W. Huisman (Amstelveen: Eon Pers, 2013), 325–78; Feike Dietz, Literaire levensaders: Internationale uitwisseling van woord, beeld en religie in de Republiek (Hilversum: Verloren, 2012), 174–204; J. B. H. Alblas, Johannes Boekholt (1656–1693): The First Dutch Publisher of John Bunyan and Other English Authors (Leiden: Brill/Hes & De Graaf, 1987).
15. Van den Berg, “Eighteenth-century Dutch Translations,” 198.
16. F. A. van Lieburg, “Piëtistische lectuur in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw,” Documentatieblad Nadere Reformatie 13, no. 2 (1989): 73–87.
17. A middle-class laborer earned 9 guilders per week or just over 450 guilders per year. 100 guilders equals approximately US $6,000 in today’s money. Thus, 4,000 guilders in the 1760s is an equivalent of approximately US $ 250,000 or almost 10 times the annual income of a middle-class laborer.
18. Fred van Lieburg, “Interpreting the Dutch Great Awakening (1749–1755),” CH 77 (2008): 318–36.
19. Gerardus Kuypers, Getrouw verhaal en Apologie of verdeediging der zaaken voorgevallen in de de gemeente te Nieuwkerk op de Veluwe (Amsterdam: Borstius, 1750); Kuypers, Oratio inauguralis de impedimentis certum in theologicis constituendi, optimaque ... ratione (Groningen: Hajonem Spandaw, 1765).
20. George Anson, Reize naer de Zuidzee met het schip De Wager (Leiden and Amsterdam: Johannes le Mair, Stephanus Jacobus Baalde, and Cornelis van Hoogeveen Jr., 1766). The only women were Gockinga, the widow of Adrianus van Velsen, and Cornelia de Kock, besides the six widows representing booksellers at Rotterdam (2x), Utrecht, Middelburg, Brielle, and Leiden.
21. Owen, Salus electorum, sanguis Jesu, To the Reader [a 4]; italics as printed in the 1648 edition.
22. Gockinga, preface to Owen, Salus electorum sanguis Jesu, iv § 1.
23. Ibid., iv § 2.
24. Ibid., v–vi §3.1.
25. Ibid., ix § 3.2.
26. Ibid., x § 3.2: “Zulk een stemt dan gaarne toe, dat het de eenige troost in leeven en in sterven is, niet zyns zelfs, maar Christus eigen zyn” (italics as printed). Cf. Catechismus oder kurzer Unterricht christlicher Lehr wie der in Kirchen und Schülen der Churfürstlichen Pfaltz getrieben wirdt (Heidelberg: Johann Mayer, 1563), 12, 15–20. Wilhemus Schortinghuis, Het innige christendom tot overtuiginge van onbegenadigde, bestieringe en opwekkinge van begenadigde zielen, in desselfs allerinnigste en wesentlikste deelen gestaltelik en bevindelik voorgestelt in t’zamenspraken (Groningen, 1740). For more on Schortinghuis, see J. C. Kromsigt, Wilhelmus Schortinghuis: Eene bladzijde uit de geschiedenis van het Pietism in de Gereformeerde Kerk van Nederland (Groningen: J. B. Wolters, 1904). On Gockinga and Schortinghuis, see https://groninganus.wordpress.com/2015/01/21/een-voorbeeld-zonder-wederga-was-de-eedele-hyleke-gockinga/: “Passages [in the preface] doen sterk denken aan Schortinghuis, de bevindelijke predikant van Midwolda, die in zijn werk ’t Innige Christendom (1741) uitging van een volslagen menselijk onvermogen.”
27. Gockinga, preface to Owen, Salus electorum sanguis Jesu, x § 3.2.
28. Ibid., xii–xiv § 4.2.1–3; xiv–xv § 4.3, 4.
29. Ibid., xvi–xxi § 5; xvii § 5.2; xviii–xix § 5.2.3.
30. Ibid., xx § 5.2.3.
31. Ibid., xxi § 6.1.
32. Ibid., xxii § 6.1. Cf. Owen, Verklaring van den 130sten Psalm (1763) … met eene voorrede van Paulus Bonnet, iii–lxxxii. Eighty-two pages long, the preface sets Owen’s commentary in context, offers an elaborate doctrinal analysis of the work, and commends it to the reader as a devotional work.
33. Bonnet, preface to Owen, Verklaring van den 130sten Psalm, iv: “Behalven verscheidene [werken], reeds in onze taal overgezet, en onder welke uitmunt, zyn verklaring over den Brief aan den Hebreen.”
34. Ibid., iv, v. Bonnet lists thirty-four works of Owen.
35. See, for example, the prefaces of the translators: Marinus Hoog in Owen, Φρόνημα του Πνεύματος, of de, Genade en pligt om geestelyk-gezind te zyn (1728), “Aen de Lezer”; Cornelis Brem in Owen, De heerschappy der zonde en genade (1763), “De Vertaaler aan den Leezer.”
36. Gockinga, preface to Owen, Salus electorum sanguis Jesu, xxix–xxx § 6.2.
37. See Alexander Tytler, Essay on the Principles of Translation, 3rd ed. (Edinburgh, 1797) for an eighteenth-century work on translation. See further, Lawrence Venuti, The Translator’s Invisibility: A History of Translation, 2nd ed. (London: Routledge, 2008); Umberto Eco, Mouse or Rat? Translation as Negotiation (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003); Louis G. Kelly, The True Interpreter: A History of Translation Theory and Practice in the West (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1979).
38. Opregte Groningen Courant, November 10, 13, 17, and 24, 1767; Leeuwarder Courant, November 25 and 28, 1767. See Groninger Archieven, https://www.groningerarchieven.nl.
39. “Niemand van de gereformeerde religie zal zich onderstaan eenig boek of schrift van hem of van een ander gemaakt of overgezet, handelende van de religie, te laten drukken, of anderszins uit te geven, dan ’t zelve vooraf doorzien en goedgekend zijnde van de dienaren des Woords zijner classis, of particuliere synode, of professoren der theologie van deze provinciën, doch met voorweten zijner classis [No one of the Reformed religion shall undertake to have printed or otherwise distributed any book or writing produced or translated by himself or by another concerning religion unless the same has been examined and approved by the ministers of the Word of his classis, or by the particular synod of professors of theology of these provinces, including also the foreknowledge of his classis].” See http://www.kerkrecht.nl/node/1333.
40. See n. 17 above.
41. Maendelyke uittreksels of de Boekzaal der geleerde wereld (Amsterdam: Dirk onder de Linden en Zoon, 1773), 188:238.
42. Ibid.
43. See Groninger Courant.
44. Gockinga, Verhandeling over het eerste Bybel-boek, genoemd Genesis, 1.1 (1788), 1.2 (1789), 2.1 (1790), 2.2 (1791), 3 (1773), and 4 (1796).
45. Anna Maria van Schurman wrote in 1660 an elaborate poem of 944 lines on Gen 1–3. See John L. Thompson, “Piety, Theology, Exegesis, and Tradition: Anna Maria van Schurman’s ‘Elaboration’ of Genesis 1–3 and Its Relationship to the Commentary Tradition,” in Church and School in Early Modern Protestantism, ed. Jordan J. Ballor, David S. Sytsma, and Jason Zuidema (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 613–28.
46. Paraphrased in Gockinga, Verhandeling over het eerste Bybel-boek, Adprobatie: “geoeffend doorzicht in Goddelyke Bybelwysheid, van een juist wikkend oordeel, van zeer uitgebreide kunde, en in de bespiegelende, en in de gemoedelyke waarheden van onzen dierbren Godsdienst.”
47. Gockinga, Verhandeling over het eerste Bybel-boek, 1:6, 17, 26, 40, 41, 52, 54, 58, 64, 69, 70, 71, 74, 92, 93, 100, 105, 108, 115, 122, 134, 141, 147, 176, 181, 186, 187, 192, 198, 213, 217, 243, 276, 419, 426, 443 (Hebrew); 1:243, 316 (Greek); 1:176 (Arabic).
48. For example, a cursory review of vol. 1 of Verhandeling over het eerste Bybel-boek shows the following references: on pp. 17 and 338, Johannes Lulofs, Inleiding tot eene natuur- en wiskundige beschouwinge des Aardkloots, tot dienst der landgenooten (Leiden and Zutphen: J. and H. Verbeek, A. J. van Hoorn, 1750); on p. 19, Aben Ezra; on p. 32, Dionysius van de Wynpersse, Institutiones metaphysicae in usum academicum (Groningen: Hajonem Spandaw, 1764); on p. 44, Lucas Trip, Tydwinst in Ledige Uuren of Proeven van Stigtelyken Aandagt (Leiden: Johannes le Mair, C. van Hoogeveen Jr., 1724); on pp. 72, 79, 102, 105, 212, 224, 257, 263, 265, 272, 407, 409, 410, Herman Venema, Institutiones historiae ecclesiae (Leiden: Samuelem and Johannem Luchtmans, 1777–1782), vols. 1–6; on pp. 74, 81, 106, 194, 224, 228, 336, Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, Bijbel der natuur, 2nd ed. (Amsterdam: M. de Bruyn, 1787–1792), vols. 1–10; on p. 144, Henricus van Herwerden, De geschiedenis van den Staat de Rechtheid en Val onzer Eerste Ouderen (Amsterdam: Johannes Allart, 1738); on pp. 147, 211, Carolus Segaar, Dissertatio philologica-theologica exhibens specimen observationum in Vetus et Novum Testamentum (Leiden: Samuel Luchtmans en Zn., 1747); on p. 202, Hugo Grotius, De veritate religionis christianae (London: Joannem Nourse, 1755); on p. 225, André Rivet, Exerc. Genesis (Leiden: B. & A. Elzevier, 1633); on pp. 336, 437, K. Westerbaan, trans., Algemeene Historie beschreeven door eenige Geleerden in Engeland (Utrecht: H. Besseling, 1735); on p. 383, Nicolaus Wilhelm Schroeder, Institutiones ad fundamenta linguae Hebraeae in usum studiosae iuventutis (Ulm: Stettiniana, 1785); on p. 446, Jodocus van Lodensteyn, Bloemlezing uit de bundel Uyt-spanningen, 1676.
49. Jan van den Honert, Verklaring van de geheele Heilige Schrift, door eenigen van de voornaamste Engelsche godgeleerden, Patrick, Polus, en Wells, 17 vols. (Amsterdam: Issak Tiron and Jacobus Loveringh, 1739–1757); Letterlyke en praktikaal Verklaring over den gehele Bijbel, 56 vols. (Delft: Reinier Boitet; Amsterdam: Dirk onder Linde, 1741–1792); Augustin Calmet, Commentaire littéral sur tous les livres de l’Ancien et du Nouveau Testament, 8 vols. (Paris: Emery, Saugrain, Pierre Martin, 1707); Thomas Stackhouse, A New History of the Holy Bible, 6 vols. (Edinburgh: Sands, Murray, and Cochran for J. Meuros, 1748); Christoph Starke, Synopsis Bibliothecae exegeticae in Vetus Testamentum, 10 vols. (Leipzig: Breitkopf, 1750).
50. Jacob van Nuys Klinkenberg, De Bijbel, door beknopte uitbreidingen en ophelderende aenmerkingen verklaerd, 27 vols. (Amsterdam: Johannes Allart, 1780–1795).
51. Nieuwe algemeene vaderlandsche letter-oefeningen (Amsterdam: A. van der Kroe and J. Yntema, 1789), 4.1:435–38.
52. Van den Honert, Verklaring van de geheele Heilige Schrift, 1:81–84; Klinkenberg, De Bijbel, 1:32–33.
53. Nieuwe algemeene vaderlandsche letter-oefeningen, 4.1:437, “Ten anderen, dat we ter behouding van ons zelven en anderen moeten werken.—De Heer heeft ons werk niet nodig, maar wil evenwel langs dien weg ons behouden … werkt uws zelfs zaligheid met vreze en beven, Fil. 2:12.” The third paraphrased point (p. 438) reads “ter onzer behouding, moeten werken, te weten, naar ‘t Godlyk bestek, zonder ‘er iets van af, of by, te doen.—Houdt men dit niet op het oog, men bederft alles, en vordert niets.”
54. Van den Honert, Verklaring van de geheele Heilige Schrift, 1:xvi–xvii. See also, Dirk van Miert, The Emancipation of Biblical Philology in the Dutch Republic, 1590–1670 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018); “Biblical Interpretation in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century,” in Dictionary of Major Biblical Interpreters, ed. Donald K. McKim (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007), 45–66; Hans Frei, The Eclipse of Biblical Narrative: A Study of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Hermeneutics (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974).
55. Gockinga, Verhandeling over het eerste Bybel-boek, 1:1: “Het geen we als bewezene waarheden veronderstellen is, deels dat Moses, Amrams Zoon, de Schryver zy van dit en de vier volgende Boeken … deels dat de inhoud en zin der drie eerste Hoofddeelen van dit Boek geenzins Zinnebeeldig en Parabolisch is”; 1:11: “[…] voor die Zesdaagsche Schepping, waarvan Moses gewaagt”; 1:14: “De vier en twintig uuren noemt Moses naar ‘t gebruik der Hebreeuwen eenen dag; terwijl wy gewoon zyn die een Etmaal te heeten.” Cf. Klinkenberg, De Bijbel, 1:liv–lxxvi (on Mosaic authorship); 1:1, “Verhael der zesdaegsche Schepping van de wereld.”
56. Gockinga, Verhandeling over het eerste Bybel-boek, 1:310: “Bekend is het, dat er van ouds geweest zyn, die wilden, dat door deze Vloed alleen een deel der aarde zou overstroomd zyn; het geen men zonder grond verondersteldt…. Ondertuschen houden wy voor waarachtig, dat de gansche aarde door de Vloed overstroomd zy.”
57. Ibid., 1:311, “Voor eerst, op grond van den Bybel.… Ten tweden, op grond van reden.… Ten derde, omdat ander die gansche toerusting der arke zou nodeloos geweest waren.”
58. Klinkenberg, De Bijbel, 1:xxi, “Inzonderheid, om hierdoor de huislyke Godsdientoeffeningen aentemoedigen…”
59. https://groninganus.wordpress.com/2015/01/21/een-voorbeeld-zonder-wederga-was-de-eedele-hyleke-gockinga.
60. See n. 2 above for translation.
61. Gockinga, Verhandeling over het eerste Bybel-boek, 4:623: “Eindelyk, leeren ons Josefs Broeders, dat wy onze naastbestaanden, vooral dan, wanneer zy ook onze Weldoeners waren, alle eere en trouw moeten bewijzen, niet alleen in hun leven, maar ook, zoo veel dit plaats kan hebben, in en na hunnen dood.”
62. Other forgotten female students include Anna Maria Gürtler and Maria Magdalena Gürtler listed in the Album studiosorum (1708) of Franeker University. Cf. https://www.omropfryslan.nl/nieuws/861186-ook-vrouwelijke-studenten-aan-franeker-universiteit-ik-viel-echt-bijna-van-mijn-stoel; van Beek, “Hyleke Gockinga (1723–1793), een tweede Anna Maria van Schurman.” Forgotten also was the learned Frisian contemporary of Gockinga, Anna Elisabeth Buma (1750–1825); see http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/vrouwenlexicon/lemmata/data/Buma; Pieta van Beek, “Vrouwen toen en nu: Anna Elisabeth Buma (1750–1825), een Friese Anna Maria van Schurman,” Handreiking 49, no. 1 (2018): 28–29. Van Beek notes about Gockinga, “In the Handbook of Women Biblical Interpreters she is absent, neither [is she] in the Reformation Commentary of John Lee Thompson. She is also not known in the major reference work 1001 Women in the History of the Netherlands.” Other forgotten women of Dutch pietism are Aletta Vermeer (1699–1762), Eva van der Groe (1707–1770), and Johanna Avinck (1743–1784). Works by J. Avinck include, De Schatten van een Christen, briefs gewyze voorgedraagen (Amsterdam: Lambertsz and I. de Jongh, 1780); Toegift op de schatten van een Christen (Utrecht: H. v. Otterloo; Amsterdam: L. Lamberts, 1783); Het eene noodige en begeerlyke goed voorgestelt en aangepreezen in tien Brieven (Utrecht: H. v. Otterloo; Amsterdam: L. Lamberts, 1784). See F. A. van Lieburg, “Vrouwen uit het gereformeerde Piëtisme in Nederland (3),” Documentatieblad Nadere Reformatie 10, no. 3 (1986): 94–104.