A very special chest of books

Hello my friends,

The miniature chest in this picture above is connected to the man in the engraving below. Apart from being a very pretty and well made miniature it is my best buy of the DHN fair in Arnhem last week.  But why do I want this chest in my collection, and who is that man from yesteryear?

Why? Because this miniature chest is a 1:12 copy of the chest that stands in the Rijksmuseum. And that chest was allegedly used by Hugo de Groot (Grotius) to escape from his prison in Loevestein castle in 1621!

I'll tell you more about the escape later but first, who was Hugo? Well, being a Master of laws myself, he's one of my "legal heroes".  But that tells you nothing, does it? So here a (very) brief description of the man himself and some of his work.

Perhaps Hugo's most important feat is that he laid the foundations for international law as it is today. Two of te books he wrote have had a lasting impact in the field of international law: De jure belli ac pacis [On the Law of War and Peace] which he dedicated to Louis XIII of France.

And the other one is Mare Liberum [The Free Seas]. Just think of the concept of "international waters" Hugo was the first to lay that down in writing! With his books he has also contributed to the evolution of the notion of rights. Before him, rights were above all perceived as attached to objects; after him, they are seen as belonging to persons, as the expression of an ability to act or as a means of realizing something. And now, on to the man himself. 

So,he is a great chap and all that. Why should he escape from prison in a chest, and why was he in prison in the first place? Well, that is quite a long story. Here comes the short version.

He was the victim of a political struggle between Prince Maurits (yep  the guy on the left Delft tile tableau I made in miniature) who more or less ruled the republic as a commander in chief at that time, and Johan Van Oldenbarnevelt (call him the prime minister). Grotius worked closely with Van Oldenbarnevelt and when the first was beheaded in 1619, his situation became precarious. At the same time there was an ongoing religious dispute within the Netherlands about protestantism. Should the two main streams in the Netherlands, the Arminians and the Calvinists be tollerant of eachother differences? Or was there only one true way to be a protestant? And thus all the rest heresy? Grotius pleaded tollerance, while Maurits had sided firmly with the Calvinists. 

The result of all this? He was locked up at Loevestein castle as a political prisoner. Waiting for the moment that prince Maurits would decide on Grotius' fate. Because Hugo was a gentleman and scholar he was allowed certain privileges. His wife was allowed to visit him and he could read books and continue his writing. This meant that at regular intervals a chest was delivered and taken away. A heavy chest because it was filled with books he wanted to read or use. For he was allowed to continue his scholarly work in prison. 

Despite this mild prison regime he did not trust the Prince and his entourage to let him go any time soon. Or even, to let him live out his life to the end of his days, for that matter. Maurits an Van Oldenbarnevelt had been friends and close allies for years. But that had not saved Van Oldebarnevelt to loose his head on the chopping block two years earlier. 

Hugo stepping in the chest (with a rounded lid)... 

You probably have figured out by now how this story ends. After a while the model prisoner was not deemed a flight risk and they got bored checking the books in the chest... 

Is this chest heavier than usual or what?...

He and his wife hatched a plan to break him out of his prison. but how does one go about these things? With patience and careful planning they worked out a plan. In 1621, with the help of his wife and his maidservant, Grotius managed to escape the castle in the chest and fled to Paris. (That is why his "Rights of war and peace" is dedicated to Louis XIII and not Maurits)

...and Hugo stepping out of it (with a flat lid)...

The engravers all show different chests. Which is okay because they do not pretend to be historically acurate. They just depict a key moment in the story. But here's another fun fact. There are three chests in existence in which Hugo would have escaped his prison.

Besides Loevestein castle, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and even the museum Het Prinsenhof in Delft claim to have the original book chest in their collection!

Wow, 3 chests. Which one will be the 'real McCoy'? Believe it or not, but a Dutch television program has had different researchers inspect these chests a few years ago to find out which of the three is probably the best candidate. And with a sense of drama all three chests were brought together.

The result? The tree that supplied the wood used in the Loevestein chest was chopped down some years after 1621. So that's not the one. The Rijksmuseum chest and the Prinsenhof chest were old enough to be in use in 1621. The Rijksmuseum chest is much longer than the other one and would be hard neigh impossible to be carried by two men when filled with books or an escapee. 

So the conclusion of the historians and scientists involved was that the Prinsenhof chest is the most likely candidate. Although there simply can't be a 100% certainty. However, the result of this program does not make me want this miniature chest any less. Now lets have closer look at this miniature. 

Hetty Fromme is a miniaturist who took the Rijksmuseum chest as her subject to miniaturise. She got permission of the Rijksmuseum to take detailed pictures inside and out. From those she drew the exact shapes of all te remaining bits of leather and metal hardware to recreate in miniature.  As you can see in the picture below.

The metal straps, locks and hinges are made of real metal. Distressed and aged to resemble their 1:1 counterparts. The plans of this chest were featured in the  Dollshouse Nederland magazine in 2009. 

But here the metal parts were replaced by cardboard. A logical step because few people can work with metal. Me neither. But now I do not have to try and make it, I have got the original right here!

I had plans to make this chest from the plans in DHN. Because of my great interest in Hugo Grotius. But then I heard that the chief editor of DHN had the original chest made by Hetty Fromme. And I heard that news because she, the chief editor, was making plans to slim down her collection and was kind enough to tell me in person when I happened to speak to her. Yes my dear friends, as soon as I learned this unique chest was coming "on the market" I wanted to procure this piece for myself. She was happy to sell it to me at an agreed price. So the chest was sold before the other pieces came to Arnhem to be sold. 

As a chest it fits right into Huis ter Swinnendael. As a replica of the presumed chest in which Hugo Grotius may or may not have escaped Loevestein Castle. It has a greater value to me than any other chest. 

But aside from that, the attention to detail of Hetty Fromme and the research she has done on it makes it even more special. Every bit of metal was measured and reproduced as good as possible. Even the tarnished and stained cloth lining on the interior was recreated as close to the original as possible. Even the underside of the chest is not just a flat piece of wood as you cab see in the last picture of this post below here. 

I can only repeat myself when I say that I am over the moon with this miniature chest. I'm positively enamored with it.  Now i only have to fill it with a bunch of books. ;-)

Huibrecht