The family Van Harinxma thoe Slooten

The Frisian family Van Harinxma thoe Slooten had no fewer than eleven album owners in the family. The alba show how closely the noble Frisian writers were connected to each other. Not only through friendly ties, but also through amorous feelings, as is evident from several inscriptions and marriage contracts. The album amicorum is a valuable source for genealogical research, because it reveals relationships between people, circles of friends and families.

The eleven alba from the Van Harinxma thoe Slooten family contain a wealth of coats of arms paintings and other illustrations from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, partly made by local Frisian artists. The collection shows how keeping an album amicorum could be common practice within one family.

The three brothers Homme, Juw and Pieter van Harinxma kept alba during their joint study period. By comparing the booklets we can determine whether the people who placed a contribution in an album had a ‘standard inscription’ ready or whether they always came up with something new. The four women's albums in this collection shed new light on the use of albums among well-to-do young ladies and the ratio between male and female albums.