Book collection H. Wilhelmi
Collection description created by:
Anike van Noort, 2025
Brief overview
Name:
Wilhelmi, Hermannus (Willems, Harmen), (…-1665/1668), land surveyor
Size:
192 volumes
Language(s):
Latin, Dutch, French, German, Greek
Summary:
The Wilhelmi Collection was acquired by the curators of the University of Groningen on 15 May 1669, thanks in part to the mediation of Mayor and curator Johannes à Julsingha.
Owner:
Groningen University Library
Repository:
University Library Groningen, Special Collections Department.
Provenance and acquisition
Biography
The Wilhelmi Collection was purchased on 15 May 1669 by the curators of the University of Groningen at the time. A note in the first handwritten library catalogue reveals that the curators had already decided to acquire the books on 10 November 1668. Six months later, on 15 May 1669, the collection was officially purchased for a sum of 800 guilders.
The university librarian in 1669, Gerhardus Lammers, did not keep the books together as a distinct collection—something that would be standard policy today—but instead classified the volumes by subject. Using information from the catalogue, it has been possible to identify the individual books and reconstruct the original Wilhelmi library. Although the syllabus states that the collection originally comprised 200 volumes, the current Wilhelmi Collection consists of 192 volumes.
The collection is named after its former owner, Harmen Willems (Latinized as Hermannus Wilhelmi). Little is known about Willems, except that he was a land surveyor and was appointed as an engineer in 1661. It is also known that, together with his wife Hittie Wijghers, he purchased two houses on freehold land in the city on 9 April 1659. This suggests he was a man of means, able to afford land and to assemble a substantial library.
His exact date of death is unknown, but it is likely that he died sometime between 1665—the latest publication date found in the collection—and 10 November 1668, the date on which the curators decided to acquire his books.
Acquisition
The items in this collection were purchased on 15 May 1669 from the heirs of Harmen Willems.
Contents and collation
The collection contains 192 volumes, primarily focused on mathematics, astronomy, fortification, geography, and architecture. Much of the material is illustrated.
Notes
The acquisition of the Wilhelmi Collection is recorded in the first handwritten catalogue, known as the Syllabus Librorum Academicorum of 1619. Some additions were made to the Syllabus up until 1700, including the Wilhelmi Collection.
The volumes are also listed in the first printed catalogue from 1669, compiled by Gerhardus Lammers (1642–1719).
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Literature
Huisman, Gerda C. “Een ingelijfde collectie weer vrijgemaakt: De boeken van een zeventiende-eeuwse landmeter in de Universiteitsbibliotheek Groningen.” From Om het boek: Cultuurhistorische bespiegelingen over boeken en mensen, editors: Wim van Anrooij, Anna Dlabačová, Erik Geleijns, Jef Schaeps, Geert Warnar en Sylvia van Zanen, 274-280. Hilversum: Uitgeverij Verloren, 2020.
Huisman, Gerda C. The university library of Groningen: Four hundred years of history in four buildings, forty collections and infinite pictures. Groningen: Barkhuis & University Library Groningen, 2014.
Checked keywords
Persons
Lammers, Gerhardus http://viaf.org/viaf/288018504
Geographical names
Groningen http://viaf.org/viaf/127790264
Universiteitsbibliotheek Groningen http://viaf.org/viaf/155670113