Summary In 1997 the canonesses regular of Soeterbeeck moved from their convent in Deursen (the Netherlands) to a nursing home in Nuland. They left behind an old library of considerable size and historical significance that is now the core of the Soeterbeeck Collection at Nijmegen University Library. It is a suitable starting point for telling the story of the historical library of a women's convent with roots in the Modern Devotion, from the community's humble beginnings in 1448 to the present day. This study describes the collective history of all manuscripts and early printed books that are known to have been in communal or personal ownership at Soeterbeeck. It investigates the books' production and delves into their traces of use. Many of these are connected to each other, usually because they were left by the same person or had the same purpose. Such units transcend the level of individual volumes and reveal what might be called the stratification of the historical library as a whole. They can be interpreted in the context of the sisters' personal lives and the convent's communal history. This approach provides insight in the multiplicity of meanings that the books had for their users. For the first time, theoretical principles of modern archaeology are used to map a historical library as an archaeological site. A scholarly catalogue of the Soeterbeeck Collection that documents its traces of use is also included. Stunning illustrations visually lay bare the books' eventful lives. TABLE OF CONTENTS Part I Study Chapter 1 An Archaeological Approach 1.1 The Madonna of Soeterbeeck 1.2 The Historical Library 1.3 A Book Collection as an Archaeological Site 1.4 Plan of the Following Chapters Chapter 2 Faithful to the Divine Office 2.1 The First Phase 2.2 Choir Books Attributed to Mariënhage 2.3 Two Stratigraphic Units in Choir Books Chapter 3 In Times of Trouble 3.1 The Fire of 1539 3.2 Book Production at Soeterbeeck 3.3 Ownership Notes from the Years 1606-1608 3.4 Books that Came in 1613 3.5 Aftermath Chapter 4 Personal Ownership of Books in a Monastic Environment 4.1 Two Circuits 4.2 The Sisters of 1632 and Their Books 4.3 Not to Forget 4.4 After the Relocation 4.5 Sister Lips's Booklets 4.6 Books in the Choir Stalls Chapter 5 Changing Attitudes towards Old Books 5.1 Cut to Pieces or Sold 5.2 First Signs of a Library 5.3 Revaluation Chapter 6 On the Edge of Beyond 6.1 Special Attention for the Manuscripts 6.2 Witnessing to a Tradition 6.3 The Soeterbeeck Collection 6.4 Towards an Archaeology Chapter 7 Back to Hodder Appendices A Books with Ownership Notes of the Convents of Soeterbeeck and Nazareth B Alienated Books C Books in the Archives of Soeterbeeck D Shelf-Marks on Labels of Woody Paper (ca 1952) E Fragments from the Winter Part of an Antiphonary Excursuses 1 The Term Stratigraphic Unit 2 A Bindery at Mariënhage 3 Incongruities in the Additional Office for Anthony Abbot in IV 4 and IV 22 4 Mysteries surrounding Psalter IV 75 5 Antonius van Hemert 6 Catharina Dekens 7 A Spiritual Exercise at Mass 8 A View on the Seventeenth-Century Convent 9 A Nuns' Gallery at Soeterbeeck 10 The Uncertain Origin of Mater 2 11 The Contents of IV 12 The Choir Stalls of Soeterbeeck 13 The Duration of Petronella van Berckel's Priorate 14 Issues about Wouter Willems's Rectorate 15 Rumbling in the Convent 16 From Sister Verhoeven with Compliments 17 The Bishop's Rule 18 A Sister's Hand on Loose Leaves in IV 15 19 Against the Plague 20 Names of Loved Ones in Two Printed Books 21 Copies of the Windesheim Officia propria from St Joseph-Nazareth in Antwerp 22 A Bookcase in the Choir 23 Two Books near the Prioress 24 Books of Lay Boarders 25 Soeterbeeck's Antiphonaries 26 The Feast of Vincent of Saragossa in Soeterbeeck's Graduals 27 The Patched-Up State of IV 78 28 The Present State of IV 24 29 Lots 64-66 and 70-72 in the Auction Catalogue of the Estate of Theresia Smits 30 'Made by' Antoon Hermans 31 More Roads to Haaren 32 Exceptionally Black 33 The Notebooks of ENK AR-Z104/545 34 Tight Links between the Text Block and Endpapers of The Hague, 130 G 18 35 The Sections of the Library of 1958 36 Soeterbeeck's Books on Display 37 From Another Past 38 Books in the Care of Van Dijk Part II: Catalogue of the Soeterbeeck Collection Introduction In General Titles Annotations Traces of Use The Sisters' Old Library Case III Case IV Case V Indices Previous Book-Owners Notes Bibliography Pictures from the Archives Statues, Portraits and Other Objects