On Nov. 8 the Library was graced by royalty when Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus of the Netherlands visited for a tour -- both actual and virtual -- of the institution and its collections.
They had also come to Washington in an unofficial capacity to open an exhibition of Johannes Vermeer paintings at the National Gallery of Art.
Dr. and Mrs. Billington greeted the Queen and Prince at the foot of the west front steps of the Jefferson Building, and Sen. and Mrs. Mark O. Hatfield (R-Ore.), the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, were waiting to welcome them in the Great Hall.
Ford Peatross, curator of Architecture, Design and Engineering Collections, pointed out some of the architectural and design features of the building relating to the Netherlands as the party made their way slowly through the Great Hall toward the Main Reading Room to the Computer Catalog Center, where Linda White of the National Reference Service was waiting to demonstrate the Library's online catalog system.
"It was very, very pleasant," recalled Ms. White. "I showed the Queen subject, author and title searches, most of them based on her family -- and I had some of the books there so that she could see them." One of the books she had pulled was Lonely but Not Alone, written by the Queen's grandmother, Queen Wilhelmina, in 1959.
Researchers, who had gone through metal detectors as they entered the building that morning, were at work in the Main Reading Room, and most seemed to enjoy being caught up in viewing the royal progress.
Library curators had laid out some of the Library's treasures in the Member's Room for Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus to see, and as they entered the room, Her Majesty pointed out to Dr. Billington her gift to the Library of two Rembrandt Bibles, printed in 1910, which have been added to the collections of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
The items selected by Library curators to show the Queen included early Dutch letters, such as the medieval illuminated Warburg Book of Hours, with its vivid illustrations; a copy of the first national atlas of the Netherlands, showing the 17 provinces of 17th century Netherlands in the shape of the lion "Leo Belgicus" (1622); and an 18th century printing of the Dutch Bible, with lavish illustrations by Romeyn de Hooghe. Clark Evans, specialist in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, explained the importance of these items.
The history of early Dutch American relations was shown through materials from the Law Library and the Manuscript Division. Karel Wennink, a legal specialist in the Law Library who was born in the Netherlands and who graduated from the same university as the Queen (University of Leiden), showed her a 1788 copy of a Dutch translation of the U.S. Constitution, prepared for the large Dutch-speaking population of the state of New York.
Speaking to her in Dutch, he also pointed out an early Dutch translation of the Declaration of Independence.
Speaking in English, however, was not a problem, because, as Marvin Kranz, historian in the Manuscript Division, noted, "Her Majesty speaks better English than I do!" Mr. Kranz showed the royal party an exchange of letters that Thomas Jefferson had with a young Dutchman in 1784.
Ronald Grim, specialist in cartographic history in the Geography and Map Division, had a number of early images of America on display. Among them were the earliest Dutch map of America prepared by Dutch West India Co. cartographer Johannes Vingboons (1629); a 1589 View of St. Augustine, the earliest engraving of any city or territory now part of the United States; and a 1655 map of "New Netherlands" by the Dutch cartographer Nicholaes Visscher.
The visual tour through the Library's collections concluded with some Americana treasures, including George Washington's school notebook; Samuel Morse's first telegram (May 24, 1844); Alexander Graham Bell's 1884 laboratory notebook with the first successful telephone message; Theodore Roosevelt's pocket diary; and an early draft manuscript of Walt Whitman's poem "O Captain, My Captain," written on the death of Lincoln. Thomas Noonan, a specialist in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, was the Queen's guide on this final section of the tour.
Robert Zich, director of electronic programs, then gave the royal party a very different tour -- through cyberspace. He demonstrated the capabilities of the Library's online systems, such as the automated catalog and the availability of images from the Library's exhibitions and collections. (Among the images he showed online were photographs from the Detroit Publishing Co. Collection in the Prints and Photographs Division of several Dutch Reform churches, which are no longer extant, and a film clip of a street entertainer from the 1890s.
He also showed how the Library provides "links" to other Internet resources around the world.
Dr. Billington then presented Her Majesty with the Library's gift, a specially prepared box containing copies of a newly published bibliography, New Netherland, 1609-1664, by Margrit B. Krewson, the German/Dutch area specialist in the European Division (see following story); a brochure she did on The Dutch Collections in the Library of Congress, and a copy of Charles Goodrum's Treasures of the Library of Congress.
Dr. Billington introduced Mrs. Krewson to Her Majesty and to His Royal Highness, and then introduced them to the other members of Congress who were present: Sen. and Mrs. Alan K. Simpson (R- Wyo.), Rep. Rodney P. Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.), Rep. Charles Taylor (R-N.C.) and Gayle Kildee, representing her husband, Rep. Dale E. Kildee (D-Mich.).
Mrs. Krewson had a chance to engage Prince Claus in a conversation in his native language, German, after he inquired about her accent. "I responded that I was born in Germany ... in Hamburg, which seemed to intrigue him," she said later. "He told me of his own law studies in Hamburg and his early legal career in that city." Mrs. Krewson then introduced the Prince to Chief of Staff Suzanne Thorin.
The Queen's visit concluded with a small tea in the adjacent Council of Scholars Room with members of Congress and Madison Council members Raja Sadawi, Mrs. Jefferson Patterson, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Small, and Esther Coopersmith.
After the royal party departed, members of Congress and Madison Council members returned to the Members' Room to talk with Library curators and see for themselves the treasures that had been shown to the royal visitors.
Queen Beatrix became the head of state of the Netherlands on April 30, 1980, when her mother, Queen Juliana, abdicated in her favor. She and Prince Claus, who were married in 1966, have three children.
The younger sister of Queen Beatrix, Princess Margriet, visited the Library with her son, Prince Bernhard, in 1989.
