{"id":114814,"date":"2020-06-17T17:10:34","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T15:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=114814"},"modified":"2026-02-10T16:44:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T15:44:47","slug":"thousands-of-letters-from-erasmus-have-been-translated-willems-work-is-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2020\/06\/17\/thousands-of-letters-from-erasmus-have-been-translated-willems-work-is-done\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of letters from Erasmus have been translated. ‘Willem’s work is done.’"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the sudden death of her husband, Jos Exler knew what she had to do: complete his life’s work. In the meantime, the 3,141 letters of Desiderius Erasmus have all been translated and published, but the work does not stop there for Exler. She roams all over Europe with a suitcase full of translations. “I will go wherever anyone buys the series, wherever that may be.”<\/p>\n

\"\"

Jos Exler in her office with Erasmus' letters in the background<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRonald van den Heerik<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

\u201cThis is where Willem died.\u201d Jos Exler walks towards a long row of brightly coloured books in the middle of her study. She points to an orange book with the number 16 on the spine and in the margin the text Letters 2204-2356.<\/em> She apologises for the slight sob in her voice. \u201cWilliam still managed to finish volume 16, and I presented the book in the end. When he died, I thought to myself, should we just let it go? No. I quickly realised it would never be a case of \u2018Willem is dead, let\u2019s just leave it be<\/em>.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Willem is Willem Donker. His father started the Rotterdam Ad. Donker publishing company back in 1938. Donker jr took over the reins in 1980 and gradually built up the business. But at the beginning of this century, a man who rang the doorbell of this publishing house in the heart of Rotterdam turned his life upside down. \u201cAs is often the case with publishers, Willem was regularly sent manuscripts or ideas,\u201d explains Exler. \u201cAnd every now and then they just turned up and rang the doorbell.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>

Portrait of Willem Donker<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRonald van den Heerik<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Overcoming grief<\/h2>

As did retired teacher Frans Theo Steens. His message was: \u2018As a publisher, you publish plenty of books about Erasmus, but wouldn\u2019t it be nice to translate all his letters as well and make them available to everyone?\u2019 Exler: \u201cWillem was immediately enthusiastic. \u2018Go ahead,\u2019 he said, \u2018but I\u2019ll have to see if there\u2019s any money for that.\u2019 Willem immediately went in search of sponsors and was successful. Eventually he amassed nearly one million euros.\u201d<\/p>\n

Various people translated Erasmus\u2019s entire correspondence letter by letter. Meanwhile, Donker was becoming more and more engrossed in this \u201cmammoth project\u201d, as he himself called it. But fate struck two years ago when Willem Donker suddenly died during a stroll in the neighbourhood near the publishing house.<\/p>\n

This was a huge blow to Exler, but she soon got back on her feet again. \u201cMy son died at an early age, so I do know how to deal with grief. I do it by picking up the positive things that the person who died would still like to have gotten done. That makes you feel proud and brings back wonderful memories. So yes, carrying on with the Erasmus project also seemed to me a good way of overcoming grief.\u201d<\/p>\n

'You can\u2019t do this'<\/h2>

Except for one problem. Exler, herself a fashion designer in everyday life, didn\u2019t really know anything about the publishing business, let alone anything about the life work of her husband. \u201cI was on the side-lines. I had my own store; this was his place,\u201d she says about her husband\u2019s old office which she has since taken over. \u201cWhen I came in to ask a question, he often didn\u2019t even answer. He just waved his hand, meaning \u2018go away.\u2019 It was his company and his project. We never talked about it very much.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t
\n\t\t\u2018One day I was sitting in this room and thought: If I sell this, some strange man will be sitting here. That just did not feel right.\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

At the same time, several rivals started turning up who wanted to take over the publishing company, but that kind of interest ultimately had the opposite effect on Exler. \u201c\u2019You can\u2019t do this. You\u2019re a woman and come from the clothing business.\u201d<\/em> That\u2019s what they said when they came here. Comments like that were not amusing. One day I was sitting in this room and thought: If I sell this, some strange man will be sitting here. That just did not feel right.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time the fifth prospective buyer called on Exler, she was done talking. \u201cThen I used Pippi Longstocking\u2019s quote: \u2018I have never tried that before, so I think I should definitely be able to do that.\u2019 It is so fantastic that I said that. And I really enjoy it so much; I can\u2019t believe it. I\u2019m a huge fan of Erasmus now. It\u2019s a pity that Willem never got to experience this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRonald van den Heerik<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Suitcase<\/h2>

To carry on with her husband\u2019s work, Exler did one thing in particular: She made a phone call. \u201cI called everyone and told them we were going to carry on. Translators, publishers, you name it. \u2018I don\u2019t know anything\u2019, I said, \u2018so tell me everything.\u2019\u201d That tactic worked. By now all 3,141 letters have been translated and the twenty-volume series is complete and printed. Only volume 21 is still to be published in October, a reference book indicating where to find which letter. Nevertheless, Exler\u2019s work is far from finished.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo weeks before Willem died, he was reading a book in the conservatory about Erasmus\u2019s travels. \u2018Why is this book not being sold?\u2019 he yelled across the conservatory. \u2018It\u2019s so good!\u2019 After his death, I started to read the book too, and was immediately on board.\u201d Exler bought a large map and plotted out all the journeys Erasmus had made on his horse more than five hundred years earlier. \u201cHow extraordinary is that? We already find it a bit tiring to take a plane to Venice. He travelled by horse and wrote all those letters along the way. I\u2019d like people in those places to get to know his work all over again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consequently, in addition to the customary suitcase with clothes and toiletries, she takes along with her on her travels a suitcase containing twenty books of Erasmus\u2019s entire series of letters. \u201cHeavy? Yes, definitely. But I\u2019m not really a rollator-wheeling kind of woman. So, I just went off on my own, without a plan. I called everyone and wherever I was invited first, I went.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRonald van den Heerik<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Very fitting<\/h2>

The Dutch University Institute for Art History in Italy was the first to respond, so Exler flew to Florence last year. \u201cI was walking there with all those books. But the people were extremely enthusiastic. Then I went to Cambridge. I read in the Elsevier<\/em> magazine about a theologian who is the first Dutchman since Erasmus to hold the academic chair there, so I also went to visit him. And I already have an appointment with the publisher in Venice for the following trip. But then corona showed up.\u201d<\/p>\n

When travel is allowed again and is safe, Exler will hop on a plane as soon as possible \u2013 along with the suitcase with the twenty books. \u201cA month before Willem died, he was tired. I was worried, but he still went on a trip. Then I thought: We\u2019ll buy a nice, sturdy suitcase which he can also use to support himself. Kind of like a cane. Although, of course, I didn\u2019t say that to him. He eventually only used that suitcase for one trip, but now I use it for the books. If someone buys the series, I travel there with the suitcase and take the books with me, wherever that is. Very fitting, don\u2019t you think?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t
\n\t\t\u2018Erasmus has pushed me into publishing\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

With the presentation of the final volumes of the series, the work of Willem Donker is officially completed. But that does not mean that Exler is done. Despite the fact that the initial interested parties are already lining up again to take over the publishing company, she will nevertheless carry on with her work. \u201cThey thought I\u2019d be done with it. Willem\u2019s work is now finished, moreover it was also my intention to quit the publishing company now. But I enjoy it far too much. Erasmus has pushed me into publishing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t

De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t