Roobol

A collection on French Protestantism

History of the collection: The collection grew out of a loan agreement with the Stichting Verenigde Openbare Bibliotheken Dordrecht (Dordrecht United Public Libraries Foundation), drawn up in 1986.
Size: The collection comprises approximately three hundred books.
Accessibility: The books are listed in the KB online public catalogue. All the books, each with its own Roobol shelf mark, can be requested and examined in the Special Collections department.
More information: Elly Verzaal 070-3140308

The collection

In 1986, the Koninklijke Bibliotheek entered into a loan agreement with the Dordrecht United Public Libraries Foundation, the aim of which was to fill the gaps in the existing supply of French literature and periodicals available through the libraries of the Netherlands, especially in the area of Protestant theology and philosophy, and to make that material available.
To reach this goal, the collection policy is aimed at:

• earlier works published in France in the area mentioned above, including translations of these works in Dutch (if the original editions are no longer available);
• earlier works published in the Netherlands concerning the history of French Protestantism and Dutch publications that deal exclusively or partially with this subject;
• publications in the area mentioned above that somehow have to do with the city of Dordrecht, such as the works of Dordrecht authors translated into French and French works published in Dordrecht.

The collection takes its name from the late Reverend Johan Willem Roobol, pastor in Egmond aan Zee and former resident of Dordrecht. Mr Roobol died in 1979 and left his library (approximately one hundred early editions), as well as a sum of money, to the Dordrecht United Public Libraries Foundation, on the condition that it be disposed of in the manner mentioned above.

Size and brief description:

The Roobol collection contains three hundred books, two-thirds of which were printed before the year 1800. The lion's share of the collection has to do with French Protestantism. The following subjects are well represented in the collection: biblical history, biblical exegesis, dogmatic theology, polemics, spirituality, homiletics and especially church history. Among the authors are names of prominent French Protestants such as Pierre Du Moulin (1568-1658), Samuel Des Marets, Theodore De Bèze, Jean Claude (1619-1687), Pierre Jurieu (1637-1713), Jean Daillé, André Rivet and Jacques Saurin (1677-1730). Besides rare editions from for instance Geneva, Charenton, Sedan, La Rochelle and Saumur, once famous centres of French Protestanism, the collection contains works by refugee Huguenots who entrusted the written reflections on their spiritual lives to printers in such places as Antwerp, Dordrecht, Rotterdam, Delft, The Hague, Leiden and Amsterdam.
The Koninklijke Bibliotheek is planning on issuing a separate catalogue of this collection within the next few years.

Literature:

J.W. Roobol, Dutch Reformed clergyman 1895-1978. In: Collectors and collections. Koninklijke Bibliotheek, 1789-1998. Zwolle : Waanders, 1998, p. 203-206.