Archive of Jos M.M. Hermans

The Groningen University Library is in possession of an archive formed by Professor Jos M.M. Hermans. This archive contains case descriptions and appendices [in Dutch] for his dissertation Boeken in Groningen voor 1600. This dissertation is the culmination of Hermans’ extensive codicological research. Prior efforts to get the dissertation published have failed, mainly due to Hermans’ untimely death in 2007. After consulting Hermans’ relatives in 2022, the UB started digitizing his work so that it could be made widely available.

Joseph Maria Martinus Hermans (Heerlen 1949 – Groningen 2007) was raised in Maastricht and studied history and art history at the University of Nijmegen from 1968 until 1975. From 1976 onwards he was a part of the research group for medieval studies at the University of Groningen. He was the coordinator of multiple research projects and taught paleography and codicology. Furthermore, he published extensively, mainly about literary culture in the northern Netherlands. His 1987 dissertation, which was awarded with distinction, reflects Hermans’ interest in the publishing and literary scene in Groningen. The examining committee praised the universal applicability of the methodology developed by Hermans. It noted that, although the research was highly localized, its consequences could be far-reaching. The digitization of this work is meant to create an easy way of accessing this important research.

The Hermans’ archive consists of two boxes of archival materials, as well as some index card storage bins. The boxes contain an incomplete typescript of Hermans’ original dissertation from 1987, as well as five appendices for this dissertation and 362 typed case descriptions. The archive also contains photocopies of the first printed catalogue of the University Library. As this first catalogue has already been digitized for the wider public, and the copies in Hermans’ archive are of decidedly lower quality, it has been excluded from these digitized files. While inventorying the archive, it soon became apparent that part of Hermans’ dissertation was missing. These missing pages have been substituted with pages from the published dissertation. All other parts of the archive are, insofar as we can tell, complete. The total amount of pages that have been digitized exceeds 1200. For the purpose of accessibility and because the archive contains three distinct types of documents, the archive is offered as three separate online documents. They are available here: