Video series: Journey of a Medieval Manuscript

The KB tries to collect as much material written in or about the Netherlands as possible. From medieval manuscripts to newspapers, and from Donald Duck magazines to historical and present-day novels. But how do all these books get here, and what happens to them before they are added to our collections? The video series The Journey of a Medieval Manuscript follows the journey of a 13th-century book of psalms. From the moment it arrives in our building right through until it has been safely stored away.

Watch the videos below, with English subtitles.

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More about how we work

Collection preservation

The Collection preservation expertise is concerned with safely storing and providing access to the physical collection of the KB.
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Restoration

We can restore a book if it is damaged. We prefer to do this as little as possible to maintain the book's authenticity. This allows you to see the history of the book.
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Metadata

You can find millions of books, newspapers, and magazines in the collection of the KB. All of these are carefully described in a standardised and structured way. These descriptions of information are known as metadata.
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Donate something to the KB?

Donations to the KB

If you have a collection of books, newspapers or magazines that you are considering donating to the KB as a gift, please read the following information first.
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Information for publishers

As a publisher, you can deposit a copy of your publications in the KB. This is how we ensure your work remains discoverable and accessible for study and research.
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Gevulde boekenkast in het KB-magazijn

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About us

History of the KB

The KB was founded in 1798. From the 'Binnenhof' to the 'Mauritshuis', through a dedicated venue at Lange Voorhout and ending up in the current building next to the Central Station. The KB has a long history. On this page, we tell you all about it.
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Ingang van de oude KB. Bovenaan de ingang twee standbeelden. Op een bord boven de ingang staat Bibliotheca Regia.

Research & find

The KB helps researchers by providing digital sources and data sets. We also host services like the online library, Delpher, and DBNL. On this page, we show you all the things we do.
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Twee medewerkers aan het werk in een studio.

Discover & admire

We keep over 120 kilometres of written heritage in our storerooms. And in our e-Depot, we have saved roughly 40 million digital newspapers, books, magazines, e-books and websites. Would you like to know more about the remarkable things we have?
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