Description of the city of Gouda by Adriaen Vereyck

The transcription and translation of the historical description of the city of Gouda by Adriaen Vereyck (also known as the Memorieboekje) has been done by volunteers of the taskforce Gouda op Schrift (Gouda in Writing), a workgroup of the Historical Association ‘Die Goude’. The manuscript has been preserved in the Streekarchief Midden-Holland (Archives of Mid-Holland) in Gouda (Collection Varia, 0200. 2008).

This is the oldest of the four manuscripts from around 1700 that provides an insight into the history of Gouda. Vereyck (1616 or earlier – 1682) made his city description in the second half of the seventeenth century. However, the publication is not the original by Vereyck himself, but a copy written by one hand, probably after 1697, including later additions.

The manuscript has a varied content. In addition to a chronological summary of facts between 1450 and 1571, it contains a treatise about the origins of Gouda, documents about Gouda’s rights to the Land van Stein and a description of 32 -currently world famous- stained glass windows in the St. Janskerk, still world famous. And also lists about the sale of city goods of Gouda and overviews of tax revenues and expenditures in Holland and West Friesland.