the resolution system it is no surprise that the Generale Secretarye created a
classification system on the resolutions. These were called realia, and consist of
indexes based on subject headings. In the realia - which are always for a specific
period - the subjects are ordered alphabetically. Under every keyword references
to specific resolutions on that subject are included. The realia were not the
first indices, however, as they existed next to the so-called korte notulen. These
were annually made 'short versions' of the general and secret minutes of the
meetings of the Hoge Regering, categorized under keywords. The keywords were
not ordered alphabetically, but retained their order over the years. Moreover,
marginalia were used, bound in front of each resolution book. They consisted
of the copied margins (written next to the text of the resolutions) and formed
a chronologically based table of contents to each resolution book. Somewhere
in the eighteenth century, however, the korte notulen and marginalia did not
suffice anymore. When the Hoge Regering exactly decided to create the realia
is not known. Given the time periods of the realia found in the archive of the
Hoge Regering, however, it is safe to assume that they surfaced at the beginning
of the eighteenth century.39 The first realia are on the period (1610) 1632-1700,
the second on 1701-1720, and a third block handles 1721-1740. The latter,
however, was called the "second part" at the time, which assumes that the 1701-
1720 block was the first. Then the realia on the seventeenth century were made
afterwards. This assumption is strengthened by the content of, and language
used, in the references to the seventeenth century. For example, the writer of a
reference to a resolution of the 4th of March 1621, under the keyword 'Batavia',
writes that something "can also be seen at Valentyn".40 Francois Valentyn
published his Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën in 1724.41 Only in 1761 a realist was
formally appointed, a person whose only job was to create realia.42
NICO VRIEND AN UNBELIEVABLE AMOUNT OF PAPER: THE INFORMATION SYSTEM AND NETWORK OF
THE DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY
Year 1737 1738 1739 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750
Amount in 232 215 150 207 276 321 228 331 334 230 169 218 249
realia
Amount in 3373 2627 2295 2786 4175 2127 1258 1133 1255 1473 1125 1436 1422
marginalia
Coverage 6,88 8,18 6,54 7,43 6,61 15,09 18,12 29,21 26,61 15,61 15,02 15,18 17,51
Table i. Coverage of the realia over the years 1737-1739 and 1741-1750. No reliable data are available for 1740.
systematically order his 'marginalia' in an index around 1600. Vriend, Het informatiesysteem en -netwerk
50-52. Thomassen, Instrumenten van de macht, 365.
40 Resolution 4 March 1621. This reference was found in the digital file 'realia' (11 March 2011) from
The Corts Foundation (TCF, http://www.cortsstichtingen.nl). The file 'realia' consist of a digitalised
and edited copy of the Realia. Register op de generale resolutiën van het Kasteel Batavia 1632-1805, as the
Bataviaasch Genootschap published them in three parts between 1882 and 1886. Among others, the
foundation's aim is to digitalize the resolutions of the Hoge Regering. H.E. Niemeijer, program manager
of the foundation at the Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia, provided the collection of digital files.
41 Valentyn, Oud en nieuw Oost-Indiën.
42 Already in 1763, it was decided to cut this position and let the korte notulist do the job. Resolutions Hoge
Regering, 24 July 1761 and 12 September 1763. NA, VOC, Copies of the resolutions of the Hoge Regering,
inv. numbers 791, and 793.
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