The Relations of Jacob Grimm with the ‘Koninklijk-Nederlandsch Instituut van Wetenschappen, Letterkunde en Schoone Kunsten'

The relationship between Dutch and German philology as well as between Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and the scientific institutions in the Low Countries have scarcely been a subject of research during the last few decades. However, the correspondence – known and recently found letters – between Jacob Grimm and the Royal Dutch Institute of Science, Literature and the Fine Arts (the predecessor of the present Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) shows that they regarded each other quite highly. Especially the correspondence between Willem Bilderdijk, the former secretary of the Institute, and Jacob Grimm was very friendly. Additionally, Jacob Grimm was the first foreign scholar the Institute appointed as an associate member in 1816, in recognition of his efforts relating to Dutch literature and language. This article is intended as an initial step toward expanding the research on the relationship between these two neighbouring philologies during the nineteenth century.