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Donation by G.J. de Jonge-Janssen
Acquisition 2002
Date Mid-nineteenth century
Size 34 x 62 x 28 cm.
Signature CDG 441
In 1926 the Koninklijke Bibliotheek was given on permanent loan the archive of Cornets de Groot family. The archive had been compiled by Johan Pieter Cornets de Groot van Kraaijenburg (1808-1878), whose career was closely linked to the Dutch East Indies. As a minister and state councillor, he moved in the most illustrious political circles. His 'paper' life forms the major part of the archive, painting a fascinating picture of the fortunes of a well-to-do family of that time. Prominent amongst these documents are the silent testimonies to his attempts, together with his brother Hugo, to be admitted to the Dutch nobility. They spared neither expense nor effort which proved a windfall for a shady Parisian armorist. But all was not in vain: as of 22 March 1843 they were permitted to go through life with the honorific title of jonkheer [esquire].
Johan Pieter had an imposing mahogany cabinet made for the archive. The certificate of nobility, concealed in a lead box, occupied a central place here - right behind the door decorated with the family crest. At the time, the cabinet arrived at the Koninklijke Bibliotheek together with the archive, but it contained a yawning chasm.
The mystery was solved in 2002, when a descendant of the Cornets de Groot van Kraaijenburg family, whose male line had died out in 1923, gave a remarkable miniature chest to the Koninklijke Bibliotheek. It was a small copy of the book chest in which Hugo de Groot, the family's most famous scion, is said to have escaped from Loevestein castle in 1621. For just as several of Van Oldenbarneveldt's stokskes [canes] have been preserved, there are also several 'original' book chests (though it is almost certain that De Groot was never tossed about in any of them).
The contents of the miniature chest were astounding: children's shoes, spectacles, seals, a christening gown, pipes, an embroidery cushion, travel mementos and many other items, from various members of the family. And at the very bottom lay something which Johan Pieter was probably most attached to: some fragments, much damaged by woodworm, of the window frame in the room where Hugo de Groot had been incarcerated in Loevestein castle. Fortunately he had no need to doubt whether they were genuine: certificates furnished with wax seals guarantee their authenticity!
(KT)
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