Betje (Elisabeth ) Wolff (1738-1804) and Aagje (Agatha) Deken (1741-1804) met each other in 1776. When Betje' s husband died in 1777 they decided to move in together. This was the start of a fruitful partnership. They wrote many novels, poetry and idealistic manifests. Sara Burgerhart is one of the very few books from older Dutch literature that is still being read today, two and a quarter of a century later. This is mostly because of the stylistic quality of these first novel in letters, which was the result of a cooperation between the two friends, intense like no other in Dutch literature (Buijnsters). After its appearance in 1782, the book was immediately met with succes: after a few months, a second edition followed and three years later a third. Even some German translations followed shortly after.
In this second edition, the 6 well known illustrations by Jacobus Buijs are missing, engraved by C. Bogerts. These plates could be purchased separately from 1783 onwards – a common practice at the time – and bound with the rest of the work. This explains why first editions with the plates have been found, and why they are sometimes absent in copies of the second edition.

Door financiële nood moesten zij in 1797 terugkeren naar Den Haag . Wolff stierf in Den Haag op 66-jarige leeftijd. Enkele dagen na haar overlijden stierf ook Deken. Beide vrouwen liggen begraven op de begraafplaats Ter Navolging in Scheveningen. L0869