From the KB's collection spanning more than ten centuries, a selection has been made of 72 masterpieces that provide a varied picture of Dutch (cultural) history. From prayer books and poetry collections to atlases, fairy tales and experimental printed matter. From the Middle Ages to the present.

The Middle Ages speak directly to you through the KB's collection of medieval manuscripts. Many were originally made for personal use in Catholic worship. There are Dutch manuscripts and decorated manuscripts from other parts of Europe. “Der naturen bloeme” by Jacob van Maerlant is in Dutch and decorated. In this encyclopedia of nature you could see an early precursor to Wikipedia. “Der naturen bloeme” is one of the masterpieces that you can view here.

Seafaring and fishing played a major role in Dutch history. Their traces can be found in the KB's collection of modern manuscripts, in letters, albums and documents that were made from around 1550. The Scheveninger Adriaen Coenen wrote and drew a book full of fish and the sea: the “Visboek” from 1579 is an undisputed KB masterpiece.

Atlases were made to literally map the world, but also to proudly show the Dutch wealth. Spectacular is “Atlas De Wit”, a city atlas with printed maps and prints of important monuments from Dutch cities. The maps are very detailed. Like other atlases, newspapers, songbooks and government publications, “Atlas de Wit” is collected in the collection of printed books up to the 18th century.

Children were given their own books from the nineteenth century onwards. The KB has an extensive collection of children's books, some of which are made by artists. “How the birds got a king” is an example of this. It is a picture book with witty texts by the Art Nouveau artist Theo van Hoytema.

Twentieth-century modernism in art was also reflected in book form. Printer-artist H.N. Werkman from Groningen made lively, modern prints in the crisis years just before the Second World War for the booklet “Hot Printing”. He himself wrote Dadaist texts for it and made a whole series of other prints. A masterpiece from the KB's collection of modern printed books.