Introduction

When the Dutch King Willem I installed the advanced study of Dutch grammar and literature in the Southern Low Countries, Ulrich Gerhard Lauts was singled out to man the first chair of Dutch philology in Brussels ever. In less than a decade, Lauts compiled a series of authoritative handbooks and dictionaries for language teaching purposes, developed one of the very first courses on Dutch literature, and secured himself a privileged position of silent advisor in the entourage of the highest state officials. With his combination of socio-political agency, scholarly excellence, and academic bravado, Lauts embodied the token nationalist philologer of his time. Standing by himself at the very cradle of the discipline in Brussels, moreover, his work and persona qualify for standard references in the annals of linguistic historiography.

And yet, Lauts soon became one of the many ‘unknown celebrities’ in the early history of Dutch philology – acknowledged but sadly underresearched. Compared to the scattered but important body of work on the philological protagonists of his day in the university towns of Leuven, Ghent, and Liege, Lauts's personality, work, and output are largely clad in shadows. While many of his publications are readily available in printed and electronic form , no comprehensive study of his work has been written to date.