Academiebibliotheek > De stichting

Reductie

The ‘reduction’ or ‘return’ of the town of Groningen to the side of the ‘staatsgezinden’, the regions that, united in the Union of Utrecht, did not recognise Spanish rule. The reconquest of Groningen in 1594 by Maurits and Willem Lodewijk of Nassau forced the town and the Ommelanden into one province with one government. The Reformed church was now supreme; monastic property was confiscated, and the proceeds were used to promote education, such as funding the Academy and its library.

Antoon Gerard Roos

(Groningen 1877-1953 Groningen) studied classics in Groningen. After two years as curator of the university library, he was appointed librarian in 1906. In 1912 he published a catalogue of the library's incunables, and in 1914, at the occasion of the tercentenary of the university, his Geschiedenis van de Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit te Groningen, still the most important work on the history of the library. In 1917, he was appointed professor of ancient history but remained involved in the library's acquisition policy. In 1926 he bought a collection of Greek papyri for the library, publishing its catalogue in 1933.

www.groningerarchieven.nl
Both the Syllabus and Mulerius'catalogue are kept here.

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The Academy Library

Foundation

After years of preparation the Hoogeschool van Stad en Lande, the Academy of the Town and the Province, was solemnly inaugurated on 23 August 1614. Six months later, the Provincial Diet decided to set up a library for this university as well.

The sources for the early library are scarce. They include the minutes of the meetings of the Senate and the Curators, the archives of the library (kept in the Groninger Archieven), the catalogues, and the book collection itself. The data have been collected and discussed by Antoon Gerard Roos (university librarian 1906-1917) for his Geschiedenis van de bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit te Groningen (Groningen 1914).

Books were purchased at the expense of the budget of the Academy, the ‘peculium academicum’. These funds stemmed from the proceeds of monastic properties that had been declared provincial domains at the time of the Reductie of 1594. These proceeds had to be used primarily for the maintenance of schools and for eduction, a goal which included the library. In 1615 the peculium was fixed at 600 guilders; in 1623 it was reduced to 400 guilders. Of this amount, 75 were allotted to the Rector Magnificus, 50 to the secretary of the Academy, and as from 1626 another 50 to the librarian. The remainder was used first to pay various expenses, and only then was it allowed to spend it on books. The exact amount is not known.