Catalogi duo instructissimae bibliothecae, quae est in suprema Frisiorum curia. Quorum prior totos est alphabeticus, sine ulla materiarum distinctioine. Alter per capita, secundum diversas materias dispositus est.

1776. De Novo in hunc Ordinem digesti anno MDCCLXXVI. Leovardiae, Johannes Seydel, 1776.Titlepage, i blank sheet, 271,89pp. Folio. A very good, crisp copy, unbound in sheets (Titlepage, 1 blank, A-Yyy2, A-Bb) (Without the final blank Bb2). Uncut, wide margins. Arms of 'Friesland' on the titlepage. Albert van Saksen founded the Court of Friesland in 1499 in order to govern and administer justice with the viceroy. But after the uprising against Spain the Court had to restrict itself to administering justice. The special legal library could only be used by members of the Court. Only the 12 councelors and the Procurator-General were allowed to borrow the books. Lawyers and others could consult the books in the library but not borrow them. The clerk of the court was also the librarian. Lawbooks were the major category at the library but there were also theological, historical philological works and the better literary authors were also represented in Latin, French and Dutch. A manuscript catalogue of this important collection appeared in 1634. The library then contained around 450 works. The first printed catalogue appeared in 1668 when the collection had grown to 870 works. In 1733 the second one appeared (1031 works) and the present work of 1776, compiled by Simon Binkes and Johan van Idsinga as decreed by the court on 6 Mai 1774, is the third and last printed catalogue of the collection. It is divided into two parts: an alphabetical and a systematical part. In 1776 the collection had grown to 1325 titles (679 folios, 443 quartos and 193 smaller formats) that were held in 15 bookcases. The Hof van Friesland library at the end of the 18th century was undoubtedly the largest and most scholarly library of all the Court libraries in the Netherlands. In 1811 the Court ceased to exist and since 1911 the still nearly complete collection is housed at the Provinsjale en Buma Library of Fryslân where the books are still arranged as in our 1776 catalogue. (c.f.Engels, M.H.H. De bibliotheek van het Hof van Friesland...)