The purpose of this position is to conduct scholarly research into the Fagel collection at the
Library of Trinity College Dublin. In alignment with the principles of the Trinity Colonial
Legacies Research Project and the wider Trinity Legacies Review, the aim of this position is to
examine the Fagel collection, its constitution and use by the Fagel family and associates, in
the context of contemporary governance and foreign affairs, and the relationships central to
its acquisition for Trinity.
The Library of Trinity College Dublin has been home to the Fagel collection for 220 years, the
most important eighteenth-century Dutch book and map collection outside of the
Netherlands. The collection was acquired with the support of the Erasmus Smith Trust. Since
2019, the Library has been undertaking a project to “Unlock” the collection through a
programme of comprehensive cataloguing, conservation, and facilitated scholarly research.
Commencing in 2023, the project has entered a new phase, and a growing network of
affiliated institutions are supporting or developing their own research on the collection and
family.
The Research Fellow will focus on examining the collection’s maps and atlases, and other
volumes recorded as relating to “Geography and Travel” in the original catalogue. This
material was assembled over the course of the 17th and 18th centuries by successive
members of the Fagel family – who served as Greffiers to the States-General. The material
offers a global view from the period through the cultures of mapping and representations of
non-European contexts, and includes a unique record of geographic regions such as Southeast
Asia, Africa, and South America where Dutch colonies existed. In examining these items
alongside other original source material, such as the family papers in the Nationaal Archief
and the papers of the States-General, the research will facilitate the development of a fuller
picture of the Greffier Fagels’ administrative role within the Dutch Republic during this period.
In addition, examination of archival records and secondary source material will offer the
opportunity to understand the collection’s acquisition in the historical geopolitical position of
Trinity College Dublin.
This position is advertised on the Trinity College Dublin jobs webpage (jobs.tcd.ie ; search Fagel).
