Hendrik Brinkman

Founder of Antiquariaat Brinkman, Hendrik Brinkman, dies after a short illness at the age of 85.

Hendrik Brinkman was born in 1930 in Leeuwarden, capital of the province Friesland. After finishing his secondary school he moved to Amsterdam and studied social sciences at Amsterdam Municipial University for some years. He took over a second-hand bookshop in 1954 and with the help of his wife Siska made it prosper. Gradually this shop transformed into Antiquariaat Brinkman, a dealer in out-of-print scholarly material. Although he sold mainly via paper catalogues, and later the Internet, to customers all over the world, Hendrik Brinkman never considered closing the shop and moving to private premises. He loved social interaction with customers and colleagues, and did not shy away from expressing strong political opinions.

In 1984 he went into partnership with me, Frank Rutten, and for 26 years we worked together cordially. At the age of 80, Hendrik Brinkman retired in december 2010. Hendrik never called himself an ‘antiquarian bookseller’ but bookseller ‘tout court’. He didn’t fancy ‘old and rare’, but went for academic books. He was proud to be of service to the scholarly community. After his retirement he suffered several severe strokes and ended up in a wheel-chair, a situation he beared with cheer. Hendrik died in the evening of October 9 peacefully.

Our thoughts go out to his wife Siska who was his pillar and tower of strength for all these years, and to his children and grandchildren.

Frank Rutten
Antiquariaat Brinkman