SOURCE: Robertson, Jean. “Felltham's Character of the Low Countries.” Modern Language Notes 58, no. 5 (May 1943): 385-88.

In the following essay, Robertson discusses various editions of, as well as the influence of, Felltham's A Brief Character of the Low-Countries on subsequent travelogues, arguing that Felltham's work was probably the first description of a nation using the character form.

The Theophrastian Character was expanded in various ways in the second half of the seventeenth century. Fewer collections of short characters appeared, and their place was taken by descriptions or pamphlets such as The Character of a Low Churchman, The Character of a Towne Misse, and Halifax's Character of a Trimmer. Owen Felltham seems to have been the first writer to use the character form for a full-length description of a nation—unless the Perfect Description of Scotland by James Howell,¹ printed with Felltham's A Brief Character of the Low-Countries in Amsterdam...