On 13-5-2017 14:15, Stephen wrote:
> On 5/13/2017 12:48 PM, clipka wrote:
>> Am 13.05.2017 um 12:59 schrieb Thomas de Groot:
>>
>>> All joking aside, the wealth is what remains tangible I think, more than
>>> poverty and decrepitude which are rapidly erased by the wear and tear of
>>> history and age.
>>>
>>> Interestingly, in that respect, there has been a book published recently
>>> of letters from wives to sailors on the Dutch ships during the wars we
>>> fought against each others. Those letters were intercepted by English
>>> privateers and so never reached destination. It is amazing to see how
>>> literate those humble women were in those days; reading and writing was
>>> rather common and especially the reading of gazettes, which were also
>>> sent alongside the letters.
>>
>> I would be wary of sampling bias when assessing the literacy of a group
>> of people by such a sample of letters sent.
>>
>> For example, people of poor literacy might have tended to send fewer
>> letters than their more literate peers, causing them to be
>> underrepresented in the sample; and illiterate people will be excluded
>> from the sample entirely for obvious reasons.
>>
>> Also, the letters might not necessarily reflect the literacy of the
>> purported authors, as there is at least the possibility that they might
>> have been dictated into the hand of a more literate member of the
>> household or neighborhood.
>>
>
>
> All what you say is true. But it was also the Age of Enlightenment and
> literacy rates were rising.
>

I agree with both of you but must add that not only literacy was rising, 
but in the Netherlands it was one of the highest in Europe at the time, 
particularly with women whose husbands were at sea and who had to carry 
on their business at home. It was one of the few countries (if not the 
only one) were women were entitled to own a shop or trade independently 
from husbands or male relatives.

-- 
Thomas

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