Loan from the Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW)

In 1937 the Koninklijke Bibliotheek received c.6 metres of manuscripts and 112 printed works from the 15th and 16th centuries on loan from the Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Manuscripts

The KNAW-collection of manuscripts can be divided into a number of catagories: Middle Dutch manuscripts, those by the great 17th-century writers such as Vondel and Hooft, the Huygens collection, historical and literary manuscripts, written discourses on physical matters, the historical and art theoretical works of Humbert de Superville and the scientific estate of Van Swinden. Among the Middle Dutch manuscripts are the famous works by Jacob van Maerlant, such as Der naturen bloeme, The Rijmbijbel and the Spiegel historiael. Maerlant's encyclopedia of nature, Der naturen bloeme, is a feast for the eye because of the many miniatures of exotic creatures. Perhaps even more beautiful is his Spiegel historiael, which survives in 48 manuscripts the only illuminated one of which is in the KNAW-loan.

The Academy-manuscripts of Vondel and Hooft are of the utmost importance for our knowledge of the literature of the Dutch Golden Age. Vondel's autograph of his Dutch translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses is the most extensive manuscript of his that has come down to us.The notes made by the young Pieter Cornelisz. Hooft during his journey through France and Italy are an interesting and very important document for our knowledge of his education. This travel diary is entitled Reis-heuchenis. Part of Hooft's correspondence is also in the KNAW-collection.

The most important elements of the Huygens collection in the KNAW-loan are Huygens' poems, his correspondence and the diary of his journey to Venice in 1620. Also interesting are the diaries that were kept by Constantijn jr. during a number of periods of his life.

In Miscellanea Humbert de Superville, Jef Schaeps gives a complete inventory of the estate of Humbert de Superville which the Academy has divided among two institutions: drawings etc. were housed in the Prentenkabinet of Leiden University, and the manuscripts found their way to the Koninklijke Bibliotheek.
An important estate is that of J.H. van Swinden. As one of the co-founders of the Instituut, the forerunner of the KNAW, he played an important role in science in the first decades of the 19th century. The notes he left to the Instituut display the breadth of his activities. They deal with measures and weights, electricity, mathematics, physics and medicine. The meteorological data collected by Van Swinden are also of great value.

Printed works from the 15th and 16th centuries

The KNAW-loan of 15th- and 16th-century printed works consists of 23 incunabula (14 from the Netherlands and 9 from abroad) and 85 post-incunabula (28 from the Netherlands and 57 from abroad). An example of a very popular post-incunable is Den Wijngaert van Sinte Franciscus […] (Thantwerpen, H. Eckert v. Homberch, 1518). There are at least 40 surviving copies.

The loan includes some very rare incunables and post-incunables. The pamphlets Des Turckschen keysers ueruaerlicke beleg der stadt ende slot Guns[…] (Tot Amsteldam, Doen Pieterzoen, [1532]) and Warafftighe nije tydinghe hoe syck die tyrannesche rasende Turck Soloman ghenoempt, des XXXIX iair teghen Ungeren […] vnderstaen heft […] (Kampen, Jan Evertsz, 1529) are perhaps unique.

A very popular incunable is Werner Rolewinck's Boek datmen hiet Fasciculus temporum (Tutrecht, J. Veldenar, 1480). According to the ISTC, which records all incunabula in the world, there are at least 33 surviving copies.

Literature

Catalogus der 15de en 16de eeuwsche drukken der Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen, in bruikleen op de Koninklijke Bibliotheek. Adapted by R. Pennink. Den Haag 1937.

D.J.H. Ter Horst. Catalogus van de handschriften der Koninklijke Nederlandsche Akademie van Wetenschappen, in bruikleen in de Koninklijke Bibliotheek. Den Haag 1938.

A.M.Th. Leerintveld. 'Het bruikleen van de Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen in de Koninklijke Bibliotheek'. In: De Boekerij 2 (1997) no. 2, p. 5-11, img.

J. Schaeps. 'A handlist of D.P.G. Humbert de Superville's paintings, drawings, prints, books, manuscripts and of documents and letters concerning him'. In: Miscellanea Humbert de Superville. Ed. by J. Bolten. Leiden 1997, p. 127-250.

A.M.Th. Leerintveld. 'Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen'. In: Verzamelaars en verzamelingen. Koninklijke Bibliotheek 1798-1998. Zwolle 1998, p. 194-198.