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The Fagel Collection

The Fagel Collection is the private and working library of the Fagel family [nl], an important political family in the Dutch Republic during the Early Modern Period, comprising of 30,000 printed books, as well as manuscripts, maps, and other engraved materials, making it one of the most prolific collections in Europe.[1] Topics covered include domestic and international history and politics, natural history, geography, literature, and theology.[2] Materials within the collection come from many different countries and are in multiple languages, most commonly Dutch, French, and English.[2] The Fagel Collection is now housed in the Library of Trinity College Dublin, with related collections found at the National Archives of the Netherlands in The Hague.[3]

History

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Portrait of François Fagel the Elder (1659-1746)

In 1680, Hendrik Fagel the Eldest [nl] (1617-1690) bought the real estate for what would become the Fagel family's dwelling and home of their enormous library on the prestigious street of Noordeinde in The Hague.[4] François Fagel the Elder [nl] (1659-1746) kept his collections, not only print material but also coins and graphic arts, in the gallery leading to a pavilion now known as the Fagel Dome [nl].[4]

The collecting spanned generations, with François the Elder and Hendrik Fagel the Elder [nl] (1706-1790) contributing especially to the library.[5] After the death of Hendrik the Elder, his grandson, Hendrik Fagel the Younger [nl] (1765-1838), inherited the library.[3] Hendrik the Younger was abroad when, in 1795, French forces invaded the Dutch Republic and he was dismissed from his post as Greffier of the Dutch States General [nl].[2] Financial constraints resulting from his expulsion prompted Hendrik the Younger to transport his family's library to London where he proceeded to sell it.[2]

 
The Fagel Dome, 2024

Acquisition by Trinity College Dublin

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Portrait of Hendrik Fagel the Younger (1765-1838)

Hendrik Fagel the Younger originally intended to sell his vast family collection at auction and commissioned a catalogue for this purpose.[2] The sale was to be held at Christie's auction house, but it never took place.[2] With funding from the Erasmus Smith Trust, the books, manuscripts, and maps that now make up the Fagel Collection were bought for the Library of Trinity College Dublin for £8,000.[2] The carefully packed collection arrived in Dublin in May of 1802, where it bolstered the library's capacity by 40 percent.[2] As a new room had to be built and older collections rearranged to accommodate the bulk of the addition, the Fagel library, as it was locally known, at Trinity College Dublin was opened on 1 March 1809.[2]

Contents

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Print

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The majority of Trinity College Dublin's Fagel Collection is made up of printed works and it originally functioned as a working or reference library for the Fagel family while they served, successively, as greffiers.[3]

Trinity's Fagel Collection holds the Trinity College Plutarch, a two volume edition of Greek philosopher Plutarch's assemblage of biographies, Parallel Lives. This edition was printed in Latin on fine parchment and set in Roman type by Nicolaus Jenson, illuminated by the Master of the London Pliny in Venice, Italy during the Renaissance, around 1478.[6]

The collection also contains thirty-six plays published by Thomas Johnson in The Hague between 1718 and 1726.[7]

Manuscripts

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The Fagel Collection includes manuscript material, the most well-known being the journal of Simon van der Stel from his travels to Namaqualand in the 1680s.[4]

Another celebrated work in the collection is The Fagel Missal, created by the convent of Saint Agnes [nl] in Delft around 1460, remarkable for its elaborate decoration.[8] The name 'Margaret' is written on the Missal, suggesting that it was authored by a woman, a rare thing to be documented during the period of the Missal's creation as many female writers and illustrators remained anonymous.[9]

A lesser known manuscript is an album of tulip illustrations drawn between 1637 and 1641, significant because it is estimated to be one of fifty surviving manuscripts of its kind: tulip books [nl], a product of pre-1637 Dutch 'tulipmania'.[4]

As the family home on Noordeinde underwent several architectural and design changes over the generations, the Trinity collection includes construction drawings for the Fagel home.[4] The collection also contains an album of eighteenth-century architectural drawings of buildings in Saint Petersburg, including a plan for the Smolny Convent.[10] This album is notable as it is one of only four of its kind found outside of Russia.[10]

Maps

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The collection contains a significant number and impressive quality of single-sheet maps that make up the Fagel Atlas.[11] One important map is John Oligby's 1676 Large and accurate map of the city of London, an 'ichnographic map' made up of 20 sheets, rare due to its pristine condition compared to the few other surviving copies.[12]

Archives

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The National Archive of the Netherlands holds the private and administrative papers of Gaspar Fagel, Hendrik Fagel the Eldest, François Fagel the Elder, Hendrik Fagel the Elder, and Hendrik Fagel the Younger.[3]

Contemporary Relevance

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The Fagel collection is admired not only for its expanse but for its diversity of material, used for contemporary, interdisciplinary research across history, geography, art history, and other intersecting fields.[13] The Fagel collections' significance across multiple countries has led to international cultural cooperation, sharing, and learning, such as in the Unlocking the Fagel Collection project jointly undertaken by the Library of Trinity College Dublin and the Royal Library of the Netherlands since 2020.[14] One discovery from this project was that 2,000 items in the Fagel Collection are the only known surviving copies of their kind, making them very rare.[15]

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References

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  1. ^ "One of the world's most valuable book collections to go on public display at Trinity College Dublin". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Fox, Peter (2014). Trinity College Library Dublin: A History. Cambridge University Press. pp. 115–128. ISBN 978-1-107-01120-5.
  3. ^ a b c d Thomassen, Theo (2016). "'To put in order': How the greffiers Fagel documented themselves as men of politics, men of religion and men of the world". In Jackson, Timothy R. (ed.). Frozen in Time: The Fagel Collection in the Library of Trinity College Dublin. Dublin, Ireland: The Lilliput Press. pp. 21–48. ISBN 9781843516750.
  4. ^ a b c d e Loughman, John (2016). "Tulips and building plans: Primary material from the Fagel Collection". In Jackson, Timothy R. (ed.). Frozen in Time: The Fagel Collection in the Library of Trinity College Dublin. Dublin, Ireland: The Lilliput Press. pp. 49–72. ISBN 9781843516750.
  5. ^ Kinane, Vincent (1986). "The Fagel Collection". In Fox, Peter (ed.). Treasures of the Library: Trinity College Dublin. Dublin, Ireland: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 158–169. ISBN 0901714461.
  6. ^ Armstrong, Lilian (1986). "The Agostini Plutarch: an illuminated Venetian incunable". In Fox, Peter (ed.). Treasures of the Library: Trinity College Dublin. Dublin, Ireland: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 86–96. ISBN 0901714461.
  7. ^ Benson, C. (1986). "Here's fine work! Here's fine suicide, paracide and simulation'". In Fox, Peter (ed.). Treasures of the Library: Trinity College Dublin. Dublin, Ireland: Royal Irish Academy. pp. 148–157. ISBN 0901714461.
  8. ^ Fox, Peter (2016). "The Fagel Collection: From Den Haag to Dublin". In Jackson, Timothy R. (ed.). Frozen in time: The Fagal Collection in the Library of Trinity College Dublin. Dublin, Ireland: The Lilliput Press. pp. 73–94. ISBN 978-1-84351-675-0. OCLC 964924380.
  9. ^ Rudy, Kathryn M. (2013). "The Fagel Missal". In Vaughan, W.E. (ed.). The Old Library: Trinity College Dublin 1712-2012. Dublin, Ireland: Four Courts Press. pp. 65–68. ISBN 978-1-84682-377-0.
  10. ^ a b McParland, Edward (2013). "A drawing In the Fagel Collection". In Vaughan, W.E. (ed.). The Old Library: Trinity College Dublin 1712-2012. Dublin, Ireland: Four Courts Press. pp. 149–150. ISBN 978-1-84682-377-0.
  11. ^ Bartlett, J.R. (2013). "Fagel's maps: the eighteenth-century world". In Vaughan, W.E. (ed.). The Old Library Trinity College Dublin 1712-2012. Dublin, Ireland: Four Courts Press. pp. 133–148. ISBN 978-1-84682-377-0.
  12. ^ Montague, John (2013). "John Ogilby's 1676 map of London (Fag. Portfolio XV, no. 16)". In Vaughan, W.E. (ed.). The Old Library: Trinity College Dublin 1712-2012. Dublin, Ireland: Four Courts Press. pp. 72–76. ISBN 978-1-84682-377-0.
  13. ^ "Unlocking the Fagel Collection - The Library of Trinity College Dublin - Trinity College Dublin". www.tcd.ie. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  14. ^ Alsemgeest, Alex (2021-08-03). "The Keys to the Fagel Treasury". Europe's printed and hand-written books in the spotlight. Consortium of European Research Libraries. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  15. ^ "Fagel Collection's Rare Books, Pamphlets, and Maps Go On Public Display | Fine Books & Collections". www.finebooksmagazine.com. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
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