author

Willem Jan Cornelis van Hasselt

1795–1864

A Dutch jurist, editor, and public servant, he moved easily between the courtroom, parliament, and the printed page. His work helped preserve and organize legal and historical writing in the Netherlands during the 19th century.

1 Audiobook

Het Haarlemmer-Meer-Boek

Het Haarlemmer-Meer-Boek

by Willem Jan Cornelis van Hasselt, Jan Adriaansz Leeghwater

About the author

Born in Amsterdam in 1795, he studied widely before building a career in law. He worked first as an advocate and later as a judge in Amsterdam, eventually serving on the provincial court in Haarlem. He also spent several years in Dutch national politics as a pragmatic liberal member of the Tweede Kamer.

Alongside his legal career, he was an active editor and compiler of reference works. Sources credit him with publishing collections of laws and constitutional texts, including works on Dutch legislation and shipping law, as well as helping bring older historical material back into circulation.

He died in Amsterdam in 1864. Although he is not widely known today, the record that survives shows a steady and useful 19th-century career in public service, legal scholarship, and historical publishing.