Stichtelyke gedichten - Bosch, Maria 1741-1773; Deken, Aagje 1741-1804 (Amsterdam Yntema Tieboel, 1775)
In 1770, Agatha Deken became the paid 'compagne' and soon 'soul friend' of a sickly young woman, Maria Bosch, in Amsterdam. During this period, she began to write. Deken made her debut in the Hedendaagsche Vaderlandsche Letteroefeningen in 1772 with the poem 'Euzebia or the godly maidservant'. Other poems show that she kept in touch with the orphanage where she was raised. In 1773, Maria Bosch died. Two years later, a collection of Stichtelyke gedichten by Agatha Deken and Maria Bosch appeared, generously published with a title engraving by Reinier Vinkeles, possibly paid for by Maria Bosch's mother, possibly also by Deken's wealthy cousin Hendrik Busserus (patron of Vinkeles), to whom the book was dedicated and who later left her an inheritance of over thirteen thousand guilders. Deken supplied most of the collected verses. The book shows something of a small circle of friends, or a poetry society, in which piety is the main binding element. We meet in the volume, among others, a friend of Deken's, Maria Elizabeth Schreuder, with whom she conducted a pious-introspective correspondence. She probably supported herself with a tea business during these years.
Keywords: 18th Century (1701-1800); Religion; Moral education; Poetry; Female; Netherlands; Schreuder, M.E.; Wagemans, J