On the sunny afternoon of February 23, Leo van Zanen opened Mayflower Bookshop’s series of Children’s Classics. Starting his lecture with alltime modern favourites as ‘Dan Dare’ and W.G. van der Hulst’s ‘The jolly baker’ (‘In de soeten suikerbol’ ), Van Zanen led the way to medieval chivalric romances, from Charlemagne romances to quest stories such as the Arthurian legends, and explained how the focus moved from war and fights to quests and love.
Arriving at the story which was the main subject of his lecture, the spell-bound audience listened breathlessly, as Van Zanen read fragments from Floris and Blancheflour. The wonderful lecture was well-illustrated by the beautiful poster accompanying the event, which fascinated some members of the audience so much, that they wanted to take a copy home!