Alba amicorum
Letters
Bogaers
Cornets de Groot
Cremer
Cuper
Huygens
Immerzeel
Marsman
Nieuwe Gids
Perk
Pijper
Schoemaker
Sierksma
Tollens
Toorop
Te Winkel
Witsen
Collection history: De collection is still increased by means of acquisitions, donations and loans.
Size: The collection of post-medieval manuscripts stands at approximately 5,000 manuscripts in book form (among which ca. 470 alba amicorum) and 130,000 letters.
Accessibility: The collection of manuscripts, with the exception of Alba amicorum until 1800, has not been indexed in the general catalogues of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek. At the Department of Special Collections you can find a shelf list of the manuscript collection, which has been made accessible by means of alphabetical and systematical indexes. This card catalogue was closed off in 1980. Since then the manuscripts have been entered in the computerised file STC Handschriften (available in the reading room). In this file, the provenances of the manuscripts are also entered. The STC Manuscripts forms the basis of the Inventaris van de handschriften van de Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Inventory of the manuscripts of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek) in printed form. At this moment, two volumes of this publication have been completed: Deel 1: kastnummers 66-70 (Part 1. Shelf-numbers 66-70). The Hague 1988; Deel 2: kastnummers 71-72 (Part 2. Shelf-numbers 71-72). The Hague 1993. In 1988, the Inventaris van prenten, tekeningen, en foto's uit de handschriftencollectie van de Koninklijke Bibliotheek. Deel I, kastnummers 66-72A was published. For the period between 1890 and 1986, the acquisitions of and concerning manuscripts have been recorded in the annual reports of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek. From 1987 onwards, these acquisitions have been published in five-year cumulative indexes: Zeldzaam en Kostbaar: vijf jaren aanwinsten Bijzondere Collecties 1987-1991. The Hague 1992.
In the reading room you can find photographical documentation on Koninklijke Bibliotheek manuscripts. Literature about the manuscripts can be consulted there in the form of photocopies, offprints and references to publications which are placed in the reference library. The titles of this literature have been kept up to date in card form until 1990 and since then they have been catalogued in an automatised file. This file (Literat) is integrated in the KB-catalogue special collections, which can be consulted online.
Collectiebeschrijving
The collection comprises manuscripts covering four centuries, from 1550 to the present. Important subcollections are the collections of Alba amicorum, the Epistolary Collection and the Personal Collections. The collection of post-medieval manuscripts also incorporates more or less significant separate documents concerning Dutch history (national, regional or local), literature and law. An important part of the collection is constituted by the loan from the Royal Academy of Sciences.
