Two of the founding editors and frequent contributors to The New Guide were the poet and critic Willem Kloos, and the poet, novelist, playwright, essayist, and psychiatrist Frederik van Eeden, both of whom are widely regarded today as canonical greats of Dutch literature.
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Other prominent Tachtigers' works first appeared in The New Guide, including the literary critic Lodewijk van Deyssel, and the novelist Herman Gorter, who is probably the most widely read Tachtiger.
The Tachtigers' primary literary vehicle was a journal co-founded by Kloos called De Nieuwe Gids (The New Guide), first published in October 1885.
Witsen wrote under a pseudonym in the literary magazine De Nieuwe Gids, which he also supported financially.His circle of friends included the painters George Hendrik Breitner, Isaac Israëls, and Jan Veth and the writers Lodewijk van Deyssel, Albert Verwey, Willem Kloos, and Herman Gorter.