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Subcollections

General history and archaeology

This is the third largest collection within the Academy Library (it ranks after 'History of the Netherlands' and 'Literature'). The collection contains about 3,500 documents.

Works with the call numbers F 19-28, 31, 41, and 44 deal with world history from its beginnings. Other call numbers are assigned to works dealing with specific time periods, or specified periods of only a limited number of years.

The part called 'chronological ordering' (F 66-83) includes works about the Hebrew, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman calendars.

In the area of numismatics (F 373-443) the Academy Library contains more works than would normally be expeced. This is because of the extensive numismatics collection the Academy maintained in the nineteenth century.

On the whole, the geographically oriented parts contain few works of special interest. The section on 'Belgium' is quite large compared to other parts. Books with the call numbers F 552-567 are seventeenth century works on the history of Flanders.

The part on 'Germany' (F 649-798) contains a small number of incunabulae (F 668-675, 788). This collection contains a relatively large number of seventeenth century works on the 'German countries', including Hungary. Books with the call numbers F 649-667 deal with the general history of the 'German countries'. A small but interesting collection deals with the siege of Vienna by the Turks in 1683 (F 720-728, 773).

The part on 'Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, and Italy' (F 799-895) also contains a relatively large number of seventeenth-century works.

The part on 'France' (F 896-1137) contains many smaller works whose importance is difficult to estimate. Works with the call numbers F 1026-1030 deal with 'children with prophetic vision' in France (1688-1689).

The part on 'Britain' (F 1138-1446) also contains many smaller works. Subjects of special interest in this collection are: religion, Stadtholder-king William III, and maritime history (the Dutch Wars) (F 1152-1156).

Works with the call numbers F 1162-1432 include pamphlets and lectures from 1580-1720, in chronological order.

Works with the call numbers F 1522-1527 in the section on 'America' (F 1493-1534) are reports on travel and exploration in the western and southern parts of North America from the middle of the nineteenth century.

For the part on 'geography, travel, atlases, and maps' (F 1537-1804), we refer to the exhibition catalogue Reistogten om den Aardkloot (Amsterdam: Bibliotheek KNAW, 1995), which contains the highlights of this collection. The following overview only includes works that did not constitute part of this exhibition. This section is one of the larger, more important collections on the subject of travel and exploration in the Netherlands.

The section on 'biographies' (F 1805-1966) contains reference works with biographies of well-known and/or important persons. Some of these works contain portraits.

Special works in this part of the collection:

The original call numbers have been added where applicable.

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http://www.iisg.nl/collections/akademiebibliotheek/themes/generalhistory.php - Last updated: 21 August 2006