Constanter

Books from the library of Constantijn Huygens (1596-1687)

Books owned by Constantijn Huygens can be recognized by his motto / ex-libris marking "Constanter" on the title page. The smaller part of his library, that in total counted approximately 8.000 books, was sold in the 1688 auction after he had died. The remainder of his library was distributed among his eldest sons and parts of it were sold in the 1695 auction soon after Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) had died and in the 1701 auction some years after the death of Constantijn Huygens jr. (1628-1697).
Book ownership combined with a date of acquisition can provide some insight in the development of the library over time. The notes added by Constantijn Huygens to the ex-libris also clarify whether a book was received as a gift or was purchased.
Between 1.500 and 2.000 of Constantijn Huygens' books also became part of the library of Christiaan Huygens. This should caution anyone to draw rash conclusions based solely on the sale catalogue of Christiaan Huygens' library. As is already suggested by others, combining the three library sale catalogues may provide a better insight into the Bibliotheca Zuylichemiana
Previous text june 2007

The following list of 69 books that were identified as belonging to the library of Constantijn Huygens, was compiled by Dr Ad Leerintveld, (Royal Library, Den Haag), and published by him in 'Magnificent paper': the library of Constantijn Huygens. Quaerendo, vol 28/3 (1998), pp. 165-184.
While converting the printed list to a web version some small changes & corrections were made.

• The original column Title was expanded into author, title, place and year; the original column Location was expanded into library locations and signatures
• The original column Cat was expanded into three columns 1688, 1695, 1701, entries indicating
  • genre (libri mi(scellanei), ma(thematici), ju(ridici), th(eologici)) for the 1688 and 1695 auctions,
  • book size (02, 04, 08, 12) and
  • lot number.
• References to the Hanover NLB were changed to GWLB Hannover (name change in 2004)
• Slashes (/) in the signatures of the Hanover NLB were removed
• To the signatures of the UL University of Amsterdam, OTM was added (Oude Turfmarkt: the new location of the special collections since april 2007)
• Some authors/editors were added (marked in yellow)
• Two publication dates #38 and #40 were corrected (marked in red)

Since 1998 Ad Leerintveld's collection of "Constanter"-s has expanded to well over a hundred titles. As he mentions in his 1998 article, hunting for "Constanter"-s is not a one-man job and quite a few books were brought to his attention by both specialists and amateurs. Any lead to or information about a book containing the Constanter ex-libris is highly appreciated.
After a trial period Ad Leerintveld and I have decided to update this page with new additions, and a correction and some changes.

• Items wil be alphabetically ordered by author. If the author is unknown, it will put in front.
• Item 2 from the 1998 list, Blagrave (1685) The Art of Husbandry, appeared to be an error and is removed from this list.
• Items from the 1998 list wil be coded with 1998. New items will for the time being remain uncoded.
• Images of all the title pages will be added in due time.

Previous text june 2009

The following list of 145 books that were identified as belonging to the library of Constantijn Huygens, was compiled by Dr Ad Leerintveld, (Royal Library, Den Haag), and partly discussed in 'Magnificent paper': the library of Constantijn Huygens. Quaerendo, vol 28/3 (1998), pp. 165-184 and Ex libris: `Constanter'. Boeken uit de bibiotheek van Constantijn Huygens. In Jaarboek voor Nederlandse boekgeschiedenis, 16/2009, pp. 151-176.

• The column title contains the title, that is ideally linked to a picture and in case of titles that would exceed 3 lines, full will display the full title.
• The three columns 1688, 1695, 1701, indicate the three auctions, displaying
  • genre (libri mi(scellanei), ma(thematici), ju(ridici), th(eologici)) for the 1688 and 1695 auctions,
  • book size (02, 04, 08, 12) and
  • lot number.
• The last column is either empty or contains the links src, displaying the source, or !, displaying additional information about the book.

Since 2009 about 50 titles have been added to the Constanter collection that was started by Dr Ad Leerintveld, (retired curator Royal Library, Den Haag) which would have brought the total near to 200 but for a change in 'counting'. It appeared that multi-title volumes (convolutes) had been treated inconsistently. Convolutes of which only the first title bears a Constanter ex-libris are each assigned one number with an additional lowercase letter (a..z) to indicate the different titles within a convolute. This results in a new total of (68 old + new) Constanter entries. Small changes haven been implemented in the presentation, but the overal 'look and feel' has been preserved. Additions after Leerintveld (1998) have a number starting with N. Several issues have still to be decided upon:

• How to deal with single auction lots comprising of several volumes and each with their own Constanter ex-libris (eg the Villalpando 3 volumes)?
• What exactly are we counting? Books from the Huygens library that still exist and have a known location? Books that probably still exist, but are 'below the radar'. Books that once existed, but are destroyed? Up till now it was policy to count every title that was mentioned in relation to or observed to have the Constanter ex-libris.
• The amount of Constanter's that is available makes it possible to extend the type of questions that can be asked and answered. Also more detailed insights in the practice of acquiring and owning of books become available.

In the wake of the increasing amount of 'Constanters' new information on books of Huygens' father and of his sons is retrieved.
Hunting for "Constanter"-s is not a one-man job and they were discovered by both specialists and amateurs. Any lead to or information about a book containing the Constanter ex-libris is highly appreciated.
To better convey the latest developments of this page a color coding scheme was adopted, that is explained in the following table.

L E G E N D
An item that is stable and has not recently undergone an update.
An item that was recently added.
An item that was recently updated. This may involve adding an image or a substantial addition or correction of information.
An item that was formerly considered a Constanter, but at the moment is under investigation. This will eventually result in either its removal or reinstatement.