Lennep

Lennep, JACOB VAN, born at Amsterdam, 25th March 1802, is proudly called by his countrymen the 'Walter Scott of Holland.' The son of a professor of rhetoric who was distinguished as a Latinist and as a poet, he was educated for the bar, passed as a barrister, and soon achieved a great reputation for legal knowledge. Yet without neglecting his extensive practice he for more than thirty years cultivated literature with assiduity and success. Lennep first appeared as an author shortly before 1830 in a work on national legends, immediately followed by his comedies. His most popular works have been comedies, Het Dorp aan die Grenzen and Het Dorp over die Grenzen. Of his numerous novels several (including The Rose of Dekana and The Adopted Son) have been translated into English, French, and German. He wrote much for the stage, translated from Byron and other English poets, and published a Dutch history for the young. He died August 25, 1868.