More than 1'000 printed writings were produced and distributed underground during the German occupation of the Netherlands between 1940 and 1945.
These included political writings as well as belles-lettres, ranging from simple pamphlets to beautiful, bibliophilistic editions. Among the most valuable illegal printings were those of the private press De Blauwe Schuit. Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman, an outstanding book artist in the Netherlands, looked after the artistic design and the actual printing of the works.
By the end of the War, 40 of this publisher’s titles had appeared, often produced under very difficult circumstances. As masterfully produced artistic books of excellent literary quality, these books document the continuation of the highly developed Dutch culture of books during those evil times.