Comments on: The Vinkhuijzen Collection of Military Costume Illustration

The Vinkhuijzen Collection of Military Costume Illustration

Kattullus — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:05:04 -0800

The Vinkhuijzen Collection of Military Costume Illustration has drawings of uniforms and regimental regalia from all over the world. Assembled by one of these great, eccentric collectors of the late 19th Century, Dr. H. J. Vinkhuijzen, a Dutch medical doctor who started out as an army physician and eventually rose to the position of official court physician to Prince Alexander of Netherlands. He pulled plates out of books, colored in black and white drawings and painted his own watercolor illustrations. His collection includes pictures of the soldiers of many different nations and eras, from military superpowers like the Roman Empire, France and Great Britain, to lesser known, but no less formidable forces, like Byzantium and Persia and even taking in such minnows as Luxembourg, Monaco and Montenegro. Due to Vinkhuijzen's unusual classification system it can be hard to find some of the more interesting images, such as pictures of Etruscan cavalry, Spanish military musicians and 1830's Belgian ambulance.

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:06:54 -0800

If any of the many intrepid Dutch MeFites have some additional info to give to the New York Public Library about Dr. Vinkhuijzen they'd love to know.

By: DecemberBoy

DecemberBoy — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:28:03 -0800

Great post! The images are awesome, albeit poorly classified, at least for the older uniform styles (image captions like "Russia, 960-1694" aren't very specific). Some of these are hilariously impractical, e.g. Roman soldiers, naked except for giant helmets and shinguards. It's hard to imagine conquering the known Western world with your dork hangin' out.

By: DecemberBoy

DecemberBoy — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:33:54 -0800

Oops, on closer inspection, they're Etruscans. I guess that's why the Romans supplanted them: they pioneered the technique of covering your dong in battle.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:34:14 -0800

Wow, terrific stuff. I thought at first it wasn't organized at all ("What, I have to look through all 3,000+ Russian items?"), but then I followed your "many different" link and found Russia broken down by era (sometimes by year); I'm reading War and Peace, and for 1802-05 (the first part is set in 1805) they have three pages. Another great find!

By: Alvy Ampersand

Alvy Ampersand — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:35:46 -0800

How do you do it, Kattullus? Bravo!

By: languagehat

languagehat — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:36:09 -0800

But a quibble: the Byzantium was the Roman Empire, and everybody called it "Rome" (which is why Rumi is called that— he lived in Asia Minor, or Rum). Let's have none of your Western imperialism!

By: languagehat

languagehat — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:36:36 -0800

"The Byzantium"? Shoot me now. I don't know how that happened.

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:50:36 -0800

That's just how Southern Californians refer to Byzantium. A bit of dialect, no worries.

By: stbalbach

stbalbach — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 11:18:58 -0800

on closer inspection, they're Etruscans nor entirely naked, more like a short-length skin-colored sleeveless tunic. But since no one knows what the Etruscans wore, it's the romanticized imagination of 19th century painter.

By: French Fry

French Fry — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:38:51 -0800

I read Spanish military musicians as The Spanish musicians military. Got my hopes WAY up. This is really neat. a great resource.

By: Mister Cheese

Mister Cheese — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:40:09 -0800

Fricken' awesome! Kniiights, knights, they are so cool.