published by the Society of Dutch Literature (Maatschappij voor Nederlandse Letterkunde) -r
and that they were underwhelmed.104
8. Pieter Teyler’s Prints and Drawings
It was at one of these meetings that the members decided they should take a closer look at the
collections Pieter Teyler had left them. The minutes reveal how they decided
“[...] in some subsequent session to inventory what exactly, in the way both of books and of
art, has been bequeathed to this Foundation by the late Mr Teyler van der Hulst, and to direct
matters to the best of the abilities of the members, to the effect that a proper Catalogue be
made of everything by the Custodian [the kastelein or caretaker].”105
Indeed, it appears they had to take matters into their own hands because van der Vinne was
shirking his duties. Some months earlier, in October 1778, the trustees had already agreed
with their caretaker that he
“shall be obliged to keep precise records of the Books and Curiosities and to hand these over
to the Societies with a clear indication of the locations where everything is stored, so that
Members are able to find and retrieve themselves whatever they want to use.” 106
Not much seems to have happened by February of the following year though, because the
minutes of the trustees meetings record that they had
“requested V. van der Vinne that he should make progress with drawing up the Catalogue and
that he should either take Jan van Walre Jr., who had been offered by Jan Bosch for the
purpose, as his assistant, or give him [Jan van Walre] the opportunity to work on the
Catalogue alone.”107
Van der Vinne doesn’t seem to have had any problem with letting the members of the Second
Society start drawing up an inventory, because in April they recorded that
104 “Notulen Tweede Genootschap”, 22.01.1779 & 05.02.1779 & 19.02.1779 & 05.03.1779 & 12.03.1779 &
26.03.1779, Haarlem, ATS, vol. 1382.
105 “[...] in eenige volgende session na te zien wat eigenlijk, zoo van boeken, als konst, in deeze Fundatie door
wijlen den Heere Teyler van der Hulst waare nagelaaten, en de zaak, zoo veel i n ’t vermögen der Leden zijn zal,
daar heenen te dirigeeren, dat van alles door den Custos een behoorlijke Catalogus worde gemaakt.” “Notulen
Tweede Genootschap”, c. 26.03.1779, Haarlem, ATS, vol. 1382.
106 “zal verpligt zijn een nauwkeurig Register te maken van de Boeken en Liefhebberijen en het zelve aan de
Collegien te geven, met eene zoo duidelijk daarin vervatte aanwijzinge van de plaatse waar alles geborgen is, dat
Leden in Staat zijn, om ’t geen zij begeeren te gebruiken, te vinden en zelve voor de hand te halen.”
“Directienotulen”, 30.10.1778, Haarlem, ATS, vol. 5.
107 “Aan V. van der Vinne verzogt dat hij voortgang make met het opmaaken van de Catalogus en hij Jan van
Walré Jun., door Jan Bosch daartoe aangeboden tot hulp neeme, ofwel dien alleen gelegenheid geeve om aan de
Catalogus te werken.” “Directienotulen”, 19.02.1779, Haarlem, ATS, vol. 5.
“a beginning had been made with going through [...] the prints in the art cabinet, which is
located in the room of this meeting [the Grote Herenkamer], and that it had been approved
that the Members gradually record what seems to be of the greatest importance, in particular
that which in future should be completed.”
Note that they were not just taking notes as to what was in the collection, but also taking notes
on “that which in future should be completed”. In other words, they were also recording what
they wanted to acquire for the collection of prints and drawings in the future. That Teyler’s
cabinet contained not only prints but also drawings, can be inferred from the minutes of the
next meeting on April 23r , in which one finds that the members had continued “the already
initiated examination of the drawings and prints, left by the deceased and located in the room
of this Society”.109 Teyler had owned some paintings as well, but these were judged to be “of
little value” and don’t appear to have met with much appreciation, because van der Vinne had
already been asked to sell them off as early as August 1778.
As far as the catalogue of prints and drawings was concerned, in November 1779 the Society
suddenly stopped working on the inventory of Teyler’s prints and drawings. In a somewhat
cryptic entry in the minutes, one reads that “for certain reasons the examination of the prints
[...] has also been superseded.”110 No further detail is provided as to what these “certain
reasons” were. However, this sudden cessation of work on the catalogue is a little less
surprising if one takes into account that by November 1779 the trustees had already spent
some months planning a far greater project concerning the Foundation’s collections: Teylers
Museum. Although the Second Society was not officially informed about these plans until
December, they are sure to have caught a whiff of them before.
In fact it is worth pausing briefly here and reflecting on the lines of communication within the
Teyler Foundation, or rather between the many institutions it funded. On the one hand the
current trustees - and pretty much all future trustees Swere sticklers for formality. At one
point for instance Jacobus Bamaart, who had joined the members of the Second Society
during one of their meetings, refused to reveal whom the trustees had decided to award a gold
medal for his entry to the Theological Society’s essay competition, because that person was
himself only going to be told the following day.111 On the other hand, the fact that Bamaart
joined the Society - unannounced, too — shows that there was a strong spirit of cooperation
amongst all those associated with the Foundation. What’s more, his refusal to reveal the name
of the winner for fear it might be spread around is illustrative of another point one should bear
in mind constantly when evaluating the available sources on the museum’s and the
Foundation’s history: Haarlem was a fairly small town - albeit of great importance to Dutch
8 “een begin gemaakt, om [...] na te zien de prenten in de konst-kas, staande i n ’t vertrek deezer vergadering [de
Grote Herenkamer], en verder goed gevonden dat door de leden successivelijk zal worden genoteerd alles wat
van de meest importantie schijnt te zijn, vooral dat geen, ’t welk vervolgd wordende alhier zouwde dienen
gecompleteerd te worden.” “Notulen Tweede Genootschap”, 02.04.1779, Haarlem, ATS, vol. 1382.
“ ‘t begönne onderzoek van de Teken- en Prent-konst, door den overleeden na-gelaaten, en in de vertrek-
kamer van dit Collegie bevindelijk”; “Notulen Tweede Genootschap”, 23.04.1779, Haarlem, ATS, vol. 1382.
“men ook met ‘t onderzoek der prent-konst [,..] om redenen, heeft gesupersedeerd.” “Notulen Tweede
Genootschap”, 12.11.1779, Haarlem, ATS, vol. 1382.
111 “Notulen Tweede Genootschap”, 07.04.1780, Haarlem, ATS, vol. 1382.