Includes index.

Introduction / Seymour Slive -- Houbraken's life of Frans Hals / Michael Hoyle -- Chronology / Irene van Thiel-Stroman -- The Burghers of Haarlem and their portrait painters / Pieter Biesboer -- Costume in Frans Hals/ Bianca M. du Mortier -- The rediscovery of Frans Hals / Frances S. Jowell -- Frans Hals, militiaman and painter : the civic guard portrait as an historical document / Koos Levy-van Halm and Liesbeth Abraham -- 'The meagre company' and Frans Hals's working method / Martin Bijl -- Frans Hals : a technical examination / Karin Groen and Ella Hendriks -- Catalogue / Seymour Slive -- The Frans Hals documents : written and printed sources, 1582-1679 / Irene van Thiel-Stroman.