Antwerp songbook

Veelderhande liedekens (A nice songbook in which you will find several songs)) was published in Antwerp in 1544 by printer Jan Roulans.

The songbook includes lyrics of some 221 'old' and 'new' Dutch songs (Oude en nyeuwe) to banish sadness and melancholy (Om droefheyt ende melancolie te verdrijuen), with reference to the tune to which it was sung but without any musical notation.

[citation needed] The only copy left of the small booklet was discovered in the library of Wolfenbüttel by Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben who also provided the first modern edition in 1855.

The Antwerp songbook is the first printed large collection of Dutch songs known to have survived the centuries.

They give a varied impression of a lively community, with a good deal of courting and drinking taking place, as well as featuring songs by people who cared for their freedom of speech.