Archive and image collection

The 1,500-meter-long archive and image collection of Naturalis consists mainly of data on the merged natural history collections of the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie (RMNH), the Zoological Museum Amsterdam (ZMA), the National Herbarium of the Netherlands (NHN), and the Rijksmuseum van Geologie en Mineralogie (RGM).

Scientific
archive

The archive contains scientific data in the form of ledgers, card catalogs, field books, correspondence, and notes. It primarily documents the natural history (specimen) collection, but it also includes long-term observations of animals and plants.

The archive was compiled by departments, staff members, affiliated researchers, collectors, and societies. Besides providing context for the collection, the data are also valuable for broader historical research. Field books, expedition diaries, and letters describe circumstances that no longer exist. This information is of interest geographically, ecologically, anthropologically, and socio-historically, making the archive highly significant both for natural history and for reconstructing the past. The earliest items date from the early nineteenth century, at the time of the founding of the various institutions that now together form Naturalis.

Notable parts of the collection include the archive of the Natural Science Commission for the Dutch East Indies, the archive of M.E.F.T. Dubois, and the historical RMNH correspondence archive, which includes letters from the first directors C.J. Temminck and H. Schlegel.

Image
collection

The image collection consists of over 30,000 scientific prints and drawings made from specimens and/or for publications; portraits of directors and paintings of landscapes, flora, and fauna; various artifacts made from different materials, such as a bronze bust and a historical label printer; and a large collection of early photographic media, including glass plates and slides, depicting specimens and expeditions.

Notable items in the collection include Japanese drawings by Kawahara Keiga for P.F. von Siebold; the original botanical illustrations for Flora Batava; and paintings of Mount Merapi by Raden Saleh.