Amsterdam Merchants.- Pellicorne Family (of Amsterdam) [Transcripts and translations of legal documents of marriages, wills etc. relating to the Pellicorne family 1140-1515 & 1575-1639], manuscript in Latin and old French and Walloon, 18 documents...

Amsterdam Merchants.- Pellicorne Family (of Amsterdam) [Transcripts and translations of legal documents of marriages, wills etc. relating to the Pellicorne family 1140-1515 & 1575-1639], 2 parts, manuscript in Latin and old French and Walloon, 32pp. excluding 33 blank vellum ff. and several blank paper ff., manuscript and blank vellum ff. all ruled in red, text opens and closes with a passage by Jacobus de Vogelaer (Secretary of Amsterdam City Council, 1625-97), 1st part transcripts of 19 documents, of which 18 documents with fine pen and ink and watercolour drawings of the original medieval seals, contemporary gilt panelled calf, gilt corner ornaments, green and yellow silk ribbon ties, gilt panelled spine, g.e., in very fine condition, folio, translations certified as correct and signed by Henrik Venkel and Pieter Padthuysen and dated 15th December 1661.

⁂ A handsome manuscript from the Dutch Golden Age, containing transcriptions and translations of documents relating to the history of the important Pellicorne family of Amsterdam. Possibly compiled to obtain a position in government, the city council or the Dutch East Indies Company, or to show their status in a trading deal.

The Pellicornes were wealthy Amsterdam merchants, with their origins in the Arras-Cambrai region of northern France. They are later found in Antwerp, and a document in this manuscript records them living at Leiden in 1619, but by 1630 they were based in Amsterdam. Jan Pellicorne (c.1596-1682) was the head of the family in 1661. In c.1632-33 Rembrandt painted his portrait with his young son Caspar (1628-1680), now in the Wallace Collection, London. His portrait was also painted by Cornelis van Poelenburgh in 1626, probably on the occasion of his marriage to Susanna van Collen (or Keulen). Caspar was eventually to become a 'bewindhebber', one of the 76 managing directors of the powerful Dutch East Indies Company. It is clear that the Pellicornes were a wealthy and well-connected family in Amsterdam. They lived on the 'Fossé Impériale' or Keizersgracht.