As an external doctoral candidate I will conduct PhD research on the function of early-modern bound collections of images at Leiden University.

I will dedicate my research on the function and development of bound collections of historical prints in the early modern period, taking Willem Luytz van Kittensteyn’s ‘Spieghel ofte Beeldhe der Nederlandtsche Geschiedenissen’ (1613) as its starting point. This collection contains an organized range of material depicting events from the Eighty Years War, presented as a coherent narrative. Collections such as these can provide insight into early modern society as “memory mirrors”. The materials that Van Kittensteyn collected, such as newsprints and maps, are to be placed within an interpretation of memory culture and historical consciousness.

With this research, I aim to contribute to the reconstruction of how these collections shaped memory and public perception. The goal is to provide insight into why this collection exists, what happened to it, and its role in historiography from the perspective of print storytelling. The subject of this study is approached as a collection form. By comparing it with other similar bound collections, Van Kittensteyn’s collection can be situated and assessed for its uniqueness. This can provide insight into how these collections functioned within the early modern culture of collecting and collaborative knowledge production.
The unique album by Van Kittensteyn is part of Atlas Van Stolk.