Cornets de Groot family archive

The core of the Cornets de Groot family archive (1550-1926) consists of the papers relating to the 18^th and 19^th-century generations of this family. These are mostly letters and family papers. Because the family spent a long time working in the Dutch East Indies, this part of the collection is also an interesting source on Dutch colonial history.

Another part of the collection consists of letters, books and prints about Hugo and Pieter de Groot, sometimes with notes or enclosed letters from the 19^th-century family.

All of these documents were in a large mahogany cabinet, which is also in the KB’s possession. Also preserved was a miniature bookcase containing a variety of personal effects of the 19^th-century family, such as eyeglasses, tokens, sewing boxes, children’s shoes and pipes.

Johan Pieter Cornets de Groot van Kraaijenburg (1808-1878) had a keen interest in his family’s history. He was particularly intrigued by the link to his famous ancestor Hugo de Groot (1583-1645). He gathered as much archival material as possible and researched his family’s origins. This resulted in an extensive archive, providing insight into the lives of this wealthy Dutch family.

In 1926, a few years after the death of the archive’s last custodian, J.A.W.L. Cornets de Groot van Kraaijenburg (1861-1923), the decision was made to give the family archive to the KB on long-term loan. This was converted into a donation in 2016. The family archive was expanded in 2002 and in 2020, among other things with a scaled-down copy of Hugo de Groot’s famous book chest and parts of the archive that were still in the family’s possession, such as photographs, alba amicorum – as friendship albums were called at the time – and letters from the late 19^th century.

The Cornets de Groot family archive can be consulted in the KB Special Collections reading room. The archive will be digitised between 2022 and 2023. The fully digitised archive will be made available online in 2024.