The study traces the life and literary development of Hendrik Conscience, following his childhood in Antwerp through family hardship, early illness, and the death of his mother. It emphasizes a father's colorful seafaring tales and the boy's solitary immersion in illustrated books, and situates his education amid popular street theater, chapbooks, and the city's working-class neighborhoods. Biographical episodes alternate with reflections on formative influences, domestic surroundings, and the imaginative roots of his writing, and the text is accompanied by period portraits and reproductions.