Your Humble Servant

In early modern Europe, agents were everywhere. They engaged in the transmission of political news, were employed on diplomatic missions and negotiated economic, cultural and intellectual dealings between patrons and clients. The agents' extensive networks, established in order to succeed professionally on one level, often provided them with an ideal resource for the execution of additional offices. This book presents agents from different professional groups - artists, soldiers, clergymen, diplomats, merchants and bankers - and explores the differences and similarities in their contacts, activities and backgrounds.    

Acknowledgements  MARIKA KEBLUSEK, Introduction. Profiling the Early Modern Agent  DAVID HOWARTH, A Question of Attribution: Art Agents and the Shaping of the Arundel Collection  THOMAS JAMES DANDELET, Between Courts. The Colonna Agents in Italy and Iberia, 1555-1600  HANS COOLS, Francesco Feroni (1614/16-1696). Broker in Cereals, Slaves and Works of Art  BADELOCH NOLDUS, Loyalty and Betrayal. Artist-Agents Michel le Blon and Pieter Isaacsz, and Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna  GEERT H. JANSSEN, Political Brokerage in the Dutch Republic. The Patronage Networks of William Frederick of Nassau-Dietz (1613-1664)  BRENDAN DOOLEY, Art and Information Brokerage in the Career of Don Giovanni de' Medici  MARIKA KEBLUSEK, Book Agents. Intermediaries in the Early Modern World of Books  FILIP VERMEYLEN, The Art of the Dealer. Marketing Paintings in Early Modern

'Vielmehr liegen nunmehr zehn Detailstudien vor, die einzelne, durchweg anschauliche Mosaiksteine in dem grösseren Kontext des Leidener Forschungsprojektes darstellen und die zweifelsohne wichtige Impulse für zukünftige Untersuchungen zu frühneuzeitlichen Agenten liefern. Dass der Band, der eine Reihe von jüngeren Historikern zu Wort kommen lässt, illustrative Farbabbildungen sowie aussagekräftige Diagramme und Tabellen enthält und zudem durch ein Personen- und ein Ortsregister leicht zu erschliessen ist, verstärkt den ingesamt positiven Eindruck, den man bei der Lektüre gewinnt.' Michael Rohrschneider op: Sehepunkte.de

'this volume is sufficiently intellectually coherent, despite the range of themes with which it is concerned, that it may be viewed as a monograph. This book should be read by an early modern historian interested in art patronage, political patronage, international trade or the communication of information (including the history of newspapers and the postal system).' Peter Burke in: The English Historical Review CXXIII, no. 501, April 2008

'Het boek, met diverse mooie afbeeldingen in kleur en enkele tabellen, levert een nuttige bijdrage aan de kennis over de vroegmoderne tussenpersoon, het belang van sociale contacten en de kunst van het netwerken. Het boek weet een tipje van de sluier op te lichten van een vrij diffuus circuit, dat, hoewel subtiel, vaak cruciaal was bij de totstandkoming van transacties op allerlei gebied.' Annemarieke Blankesteijn in: recensiebank Historisch Huis.nl. Gesignaleerd in: NRC Handelsblad, 04-08-2006.