Art detective recovers centuries-old documents stolen from the Dutch National Archives
The National Archives in The Hague has recovered 25 centuries-old documents that were stolen ten years ago by a former employee. Art detective Arthur Brand obtained the pieces and, in collaboration with the Amsterdam police, returned them to The Hague. Among the archival items are a report of the first meeting of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) from 1602 and a ship’s logbook belonging to Admiral Michiel de Ruyter.
Brand was contacted earlier this year by someone who had found a box containing the documents in the attic of an incapacitated relative. After a brief investigation, Brand discovered that they were stolen treasures, he said. The VOC archives are part of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, for example.
The art detective calls the discovery, first reported by De Telegraaf, the find of a lifetime. “It’s like Treasure Island; you’re taken on a journey into the 17th century,” he said. Most of the recovered items date back to that century. But the box also contained a book about secret meetings of the States General between 1592 and 1604. “And a 4-meter-long letter from a knight from 1445.”
A spokesperson for the National Archives said the archive is delighted to have the documents back. It was unknown that the documents had been stolen. “We knew some of them were missing, but that could have been due to any number of reasons. For example, a document could have been accidentally returned to the wrong place,” she said. “We manage more than 145 kilometers of archives, over 15 million photographs, and 300,000 maps and drawings. With such numbers, it is impossible to have a complete inventory of all the documents.”
The former archive employee who allegedly stole the documents has since passed away. The spokesperson for the archive says it is unclear how the theft occurred. Security is a never-ending process, she said. “We’re constantly looking at how security can be improved. Various security measures have been implemented in recent years.”
