Laurens Janszoon Coster - 300 Year Anniversary

300 Year Anniversary

In 1740 Martin Holtzhey produced a medal to commemorate 300 years of printing and Coster's invention. At the top of the allegorical scene, the heraldic shields of 4 men can be seen in addition to the coat of arms of Haarlem. They were all mayors of Haarlem and their names were Anthony van Styrum (1679-1756), who also served in the admiralty of Amsterdam, Pieter van der Camer (1666-1747), who commissioned his own commemorative medal to celebrate 50 years in the service of the vroedschap of Haarlem in 1743, Jan van Dyck, and Cornelis Ascanius van Sypesteyn (1694-1744), who himself was a collector of medals and who lived at Brederode. This medal set a historical precedent in Haarlem for commemorative medals; Sypesteyn's son Cornelis Ascanius van Sypesteyn (1723-1788) later became the founding director of the learned society Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen and its offshoot, the "Oeconomische Tak", and he hired Holtzhey's son Johann Georg to commission prize medals for both societies.

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