Caspar van Hilten


Caspar van Hilten was the editor and publisher of the first Dutch newspaper, the Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c., printed in Amsterdam from June 14, 1618. He had, in effect, been a press officer for the army of Maurice of Nassau before becoming a publisher.
His son Jan van Hilten was born in Hamburg, presumably when Caspar was there as a press officer. Van Hilten was a bookseller as well as a publisher. After his death in 1622 or 1623, the business was continued by Jan, who started to publish the weekly newspaper on a regular day. In 1649, Jan van Hilten's bookstore was located on the :nl:Beursstraat |Beursstraat in a house named de geborduuerde Handtschoen.