The collection alba amicorum of the KB, national library of the Netherlands, consists of approximately 700 friendship books from the 16th century up to and including the 19th century. It is the largest collection of alba amicorum in the Netherlands.

Manuscripts, letters, photographs and publications from the Albert Verwey collection.

A selection of work by the illustrator Alexander Ver Huell (1822-1897), successful author of Zoo zijn er!, Op het ijs and other publications.

1900 photographs by photographer Ben van Meerendonk show the changes in the Netherlands in the 1950s and 1960s.

Over 2,500 examples of applied arts, from the 11th through the 20th century.

More than 9700 objects, all found in the Netherlands, from the Prehistoric period, the Roman period and the Middle Ages from the collection of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden.

A number of top items selected from the exceptionally varied work of Armando: painter, sculptor, draftsman and writer.

Handmade and printed botanical wall charts give an impression of almost a century of research and academical education in the field of botany in the Netherlands.

A selection of pictures, documents, prints and maps on various aspects of the shared past of the North America and the Netherlands between 1609 en 1960.

More than 2600 topographical drawings, descriptions and prints of Dutch towns, villages and hamlets in the early 18th century.

Beautiful historic maps and panorama's from the Atlas Van der Hagen (appr. 1690) and the Atlas Beudeker (appr. 1750).

The Atlas van Loon - a very beautiful version of the Atlas van Blaeu - and the Johannes van Keulen's Zee-Fakkel are both masterpieces of Dutch cartography of de 17th en 18th century.

Photographs of the Big Flood of 1953 taken by Dutch photographers Dolf Kruger, Ed van der Elsken, Aart Klein, Kees Molkenboer, Cas Oorthuys and Ed van Wijk, from the collection of the Nederlands Fotomuseum

1000 bookbindings give an overview of bookbindings from the 12th to the 21st century.

Circa 24,000 broadsheets creating a varied portrait of the Netherlands in early modern times.

The lyrics of 15,000 broadside ballads from the Meertens Institute can be viewed. The Top 30 of these can be listened to, performed by a host of Dutch singers.

This collection of catchpenny prints give a picture of age-long education and enjoyment for large sections of the population.

Images of Catholic life in the Netherlands from the beginning of the 19th century up to the present day from the collection of the Katholiek Documentatie Centrum.

Some 300 historic children's books, from Kruimeltje to Miezelientje en prinses Rosmarijn, aptly illustrate the morals and values of the Dutch in the period 1840-1950.

Thousands of pictures from the Nederlands Fotomuseum, taken by professional and amateur photographers present an image of the effects of the German Occupation.

The Dutch mining industry in the years 1939-1973 documented by thirteen photographers in nearly 2,000 images.

More than 4,000 pictures illustrate the work of the prominent design agency Total Design and its designers.

Political drawings of left-wing cartoonist L.J.Jordaan from the period 1920-1960 from the collections of Atlas van Stolk

Innumerable varieties and uses of soap packaging material, developed by renowned advertising agencies.

Zoological, botanical and anthropological prints from the ‘Transactions of the natural history of the Netherlands' overseas possessions’ by the Natural Sciences Commission for the Dutch East Indies.

Figures and objects related to slavery and its aftermath from the collection of the Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen (Royal Tropical Institute) in Amsterdam.

Objects collected in the Netherlands East Indies between 1870 and 1940, and fotographs illustrating life in New Guinea. This collection is to be found at the Tropenmuseum.

On the basis of photographer Bernard F. Eilers's colour negatives, some 309 colour photographs from the 1920s and 1930s have been digitally reconstructed.

Some 4,000 posters, photographs and prints illustrate the development of the international puppet- and object theatre from the nineteenth century onwards.

Letters to and from Jacobus van Looy (1855-1930).

Photographer Aart Klein was fascinated by large infrastructure projects. In the 1960s, he started documenting the Delta Works.

Visual history of the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands in the 19th and 20th century, from the Tropenmuseum collection.

Years of special importance in the history of the Netherlands on prints and medals: 1618/1619, 1648, 1672, 1695.

Speeches, plays, historical treatises and other unusual documents from the Diversa sed Una library and archives.

Drawings belonging to the collections of Museon and NIOD portray life in the Japanese internment camps in the Dutch East Indies during World War II.

A magnificent overview of the history of automobiles in the Netherlands.

Pictures from the collections of various institutions in the Netherlands and the Baltic area

Some 3000 photographs from the collection of the KITLV present an image of colonial life in the Dutch East Indies from 1860 to 1940.

Photographs, prints, flags, brochures and other objects from the International Institute for Social History

Over 9,500 pictures taken between 1960 and 1995 illustrating the history of Dutch mills.

More than 1000 photographs by Dutch photographers from the collection of the Nederlands Fotomuseum (Dutch Photography Museum).

The entire collection of emergency money from the Geldmuseum, originating from more than 130 municipalities that issued their own money in May 1940.

Some 200 historic items dating back to the period between 1550 and 1900 reflect the relations between the English and the Dutch through the ages.

180 prints and drawings from the collection Atlas van Stolk represent the political history and the morals and customs of the eighteenth century

A unique historic overview covering art exhibitions in Utrecht over a period covering nearly a century.

The Fagel collection is one of the largest still extant Dutch private libraries from before 1800. It can be found in the Library of Trinity College Dublin and roughly consists of some 20.000 books, 6.000 pamphlets and nearly 3.000 loose maps and 142 atlases. From 2020, the KB National Library of the Netherlands and the Library of Trinity College Dublin collaborate to provide access to this collection for cultural and scientific research, with financial aid of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Texts and images from 74 years of fashion magazine De Gracieuse from 1862-1936 (Gemeentemuseum Den Haag).

Some 145 fans illustrate the development of the fan from the late 17th through the 19th century.

A view of two great wars in the history of the Netherlands: The Dutch Revolt (1568 – 1648) and the War of Spanish Succession (1701 – 1714).

The collection of the Frederik van Eeden Society at the University Library of the University of Amsterdam.

Selection of 100 French figural pipes from the collection of the Amsterdam Pipe Museum, dating back to the 19th century.

Images and sounds of musical boxes, organ clocks, fairground and dance hall organs and pianolas. Self-playing musical instruments from the 15th to 21th centuries.

Images of more than 4000 pictorial symbols and visual statistics from the Gerd Arntz archive.

From the KB's collection spanning more than ten centuries, a selection has been made of 72 masterpieces that provide a varied picture of Dutch (cultural) history. From prayer books and poetry collections to atlases, fairy tales and experimental printed matter. From the Middle Ages to the present.

Approximately 20,000 drawings and prints from the Artis Library of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians dating back to the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

During the German occupation, pamphlets and brochures were produced in secrecy and circulated at great risk (Netherlands Institute for War Documentation).

The decolonisation of the Dutch Indies in more than 4500 photographs by Cas Oorthuys, Charles Breijer and Lex de Herder from the collection of the KITLV

15,000 prints and drawings, as well as books illustrated by Jan and Casper Luyken, from the Amsterdam Historical Museum collection.

The Japanese Shogun orders -or 'Japanese demands'- from the Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie.

Portraits, postcards, prints and graphics offer an image of the diversity of Jewish life in the Netherlands around 1900 (Joods Historisch Museum).

In 1882 the writer Anna Louisa Geertruida Bosboom-Toussaint received a Liber Amicorum. The list of contributors to this 'book from friends' reads like a 'Who's Who' of Dutch cultural society in the 19th century.

Letters, manuscripts and other records of six prominent 19th and 20th century authors from the city of Deventer.

Prints and drawings from the former Theater Instituut Nederland illustrate the history of Dutch theatre: designs for stage settings and costumes, portraits of actors, images of scenes and theatre architecture.

18.000 decorations, in various techniques, from the Maastricht potteries Petrus Regout/Sphinx and Société Céramique, used to embellish their range of earthenware.

We estimate the number of medieval manuscripts in the KB at about 1500. A first selection can be seen in this online collection.

Over 5,000 posters (1970-1999) from De Melkweg and Paradiso, the two Amsterdam temples to pop music.

The modernisation of the Netherlands after WWII captured in images, audio, and film- & tv fragments.

The written legacy of critic, novelist, essayist and journalist Menno ter Braak (1902-1940).

Seven photographers documented the life of migrant workers in the Netherlands as of the 1960s through into the 1990s.

Uniform books, ego documents, photographs of soldiers and sketches of battles, all belonging to the collection of the Army Museum, picture military life since the Eighty Years' War.

A selection of remarkable manuscripts by famous Dutch men of letters such as Jacques Perk, Herman Gorter and Hendrik Marsman, dating from the period 1850-1940.

Nearly 10,000 images of the Moluccas and of the Moluccan community in the Netherlands from 1900 up to the present from the collection of Museum Maluku.

More than 10.000 photographs from the collection of the Rijksdienst voor de Monumentenzorg illustrate the diversity in objects dealt with by monument conservation agencies between 1860 and 1947.

Documents, letters and photographs from the Multatuli Collection, part of the Amsterdam University Library’s Special Collections

Manuscripts of all the compositions by composer Alphons Diepenbrock (1862-1921) in the Nederlands Muziekinstituut.

30.000 photographical portraits - clipped from newspapers - from the early 20th century from the collection of the CBG|Centrum voor familiegeschiedenis

Four selections from the extensive collection of the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (ICN), which together give a good impression of the collection's wide range.

(ICN is now Cultural Heritage Agency)

A glance at the daily production of ANP photographs for newspapers in the period from 16-03-1963 through 30-04-1960 from the ANP photo archives.

In 2009, we commemorate the 400 hundred years of relations between Japan and the Netherlands. The present collection focuses on the unique common history of the two countries. It includes top items from the collections of various Dutch and Japanese heritage institutes.

4000 photographs of the region of Schagen (North-Holland), mainly from 1940-1980, made by (press) photographers Willem and Lubèrt Niestadt.

200 school books provide insight into the development of education in the Netherlands during the years 1780 – 1900.

Letters and manuscripts by Nynke van Hichtum, the author of Afke’s Tiental (Afke’s Ten) and other books

Globes, paintings, instruments, china, ship models and other historical nautical objects.

350 old children's books and 175 historic folk and children's prints from the 17th to the 20th century, printed and published in the province of Overijssel.

Over 2000 photographs from the archives of Spaarnestad Photo give a great visual impression of the 1928 Olympic Games, held in Amsterdam. 

Some manuscripts and over 600 ‘Boutensiana’ (books, scores, broadsheets, other miscellaneous items) originating from the P.C. Boutens Collection of the Zeeland Library.

All paintings from the Frans Hals museum dating from the 16th through the 19th centuries.

The renound Mauritshuis collection holds works by great Dutch and Flemish masters such as Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer, Hals and Steen.

The more than 5,500 paintings in the Rijksmuseum Collection give a broad overview of Dutch painting, from the late Middle Ages until halfway into the twentieth century.

Approximately 600 publications by and about Multatuli (1820-1887), about the study of Multatuli, the Multatuli Museum and the Multatuli Society, dating from the period 1835-2000.

More than 500 paintings, drawings and photos by and about H.W. Mesdag, from the Panorama Mesdag museum.

Selection of more than 900 photos - mostly author's portraits - from the collection of the Literary Museum.

More than 42,000 photos and other objects from the renowned history of the illustrated family magazine Het Leven (meaning Life).

The first photographs of primitive men and women in the Ethnographic Museum’s collection.

Pictures taken by six different photographers, from the collection of the publishing company De Spaarnestad.

More than 1000 photos of top Dutch architecture from the years 1925-1935, brought together for (international) exhibitions.

650 picture books illustrate life in bygone times, both in reality and in fantasy.

Official portraits, glamourous photographs, press photos and snapshots from the period 1880-1966 show the changing relationship between the monarch and the people.

A number of photographers from the early days of photography travelled through the Dutch Indies capturing images of life in the colony (Prentenkabinet Leiden).

Previously unpublished manuscripts and poems published only in magazines and newspapers illustrate the life and work of 19th century poet Charles Beltjens (Stadsarchief Sittard-Geleen).

More than 50,000 posters from seven heritage institutions provide a political, cultural and historical picture of the Netherlands from 1870.

The national collection of printed propaganda includes brochures, folders and other documents from the Second World War.

Promotional photographs, from the Blue Diamonds to Junkie XL. The pictures from the former National Pop Institute (1975-2008) and the former Music Center The Netherlands (-2012) present the artists the way they prefer to view themselves.

Images of Protestant theologians dating from the 16th through to the 19th centuries obtained from the collections of the Museum Catharijneconvent in Utrecht and the VU University Amsterdam.

More than 23,000 photographs, paintings, prints, drawings and posters related to railways, from the Railway Museum’s (Het Spoorwegmuseum) collection.

Nearly eight thousand garments, pieces of jewelry and pictures illustrate the rich history of traditional costumes as worn in various regions of the Netherlands.

This collection includes poems and books published illegally in the Netherlands during World War II.

Thousands of drawings, texts, letters and pictures of Rietveld’s work, brought together by Gerrit Rietveld and Truus Schröder.

70 highly romantic paintings from 19th century Dutch and Flemish masters from the Rademakers Collection.

Some 9,000 historic theater bills illustrate the socio-cultural developments in the Netherlands over a period of almost a hundred years.

Life and work around the Zuiderzee in paintings, photographs, ships and ship models, maritime maps and period costumes from the Zuiderzee Museum.

Unique images of the historical ties between the Netherlands and South Africa dating back to the 19th century.

A random dip into more than 15 centuries of tax history. From paintings to dog license discs and from customs boats to a smuggler?s bicycle.

One hundred years of machine factory Stork in images. 10,000 photographs of machines and life around the factory.

1600 years of Dutch maritime history illustrated by some 4,500 objects from shipwrecks, pictures of maritime archaeology investigations and ship models.

History of Surinam in maps, photographs, prints and printed works up to 1975, the year of this former Dutch colony's independence.

Historical survey of the rich and varied visual culture of decorated wall and floor tiles, hearthstones and tableaus, both from the Netherlands and abroad.

Acquaint yourself with the collection of the Dutch Literary Museum by browsing through a selection of thirteen top items.

More than 13,000 Dutch topographical prints and drawings from the collection of Leiden University Library.

The promotion of Holland as a tourist destination in approximately 180 posters, published between 1926 and 1998.

Around 22,200 photos from 19th and 20th-century travel albums, from the collection of the University Library Leiden.

Republication of a series of travel reports written by famed navigators, originating from the Linschoten Vereeniging

Vincent van Gogh's letters – along with photos, documents, and a large selection of his work – offer insight into his art and his thinking.

An extensive compilation of digitized slides featuring the museum collection of the fabrics manufacturer Vlisco.

From 1947 to 1963, four photographers illustrated in the CPN’s (Communist Party of the Netherlands) daily newspaper De Waarheid (The Truth) and the family weekly magazine Uilenspiegel.

The National Collection of War Diaries encompasses the collections of 20 institutes and includes egodocuments from the Netherlands and the former Netherlands East Indies.

5000 WWII posters from the Netherlands while occupied by Nazi Germany and from the Dutch Indies while ruled by Japan.

A selection of the most striking images from the negatives and photo prints collection of the photographer Wiel van der Randen, who worked for Spaarnestad.

The correspondence of Willem Witsen, one of the great names of the Eighties Movement and images of his work as a painter, engraver and photographer.

Nearly 3800 Dutch posters from the collection of the IIAV offer a glorious image of the Dutch women's movement from 1900 until 2002.

Nine magazines from the collections of various institutes reflect what young people were reading between 1883 and 1950.

A feast of visual communication, featuring over 20,000 advertising items dating from around 1850 up to 2002 from the collection of Nederlands Reclame Arsenaal.

A special selection of some 10,000 stamps and stamp designs created for the Dutch Postal Services.

A cross-section of the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum collection of 16th century graphic art from the Northern and Southern Netherlands.

2200 photo's from the collection of the Rijksmuseum: unemployment, elections, asylum seekers, the Royal Family and more themes, taken by 41 photographers.