The Library holds two albums with historical photographs of the First Hague Peace Conference of 1899. These two albums were a gift to Jonkheer J.C.N. van Eys, secretary-general of the Conference and to Dutch foreign minister and honorary chairman, Mr. W.H. de Beaufort. All key figures received a personalized photo album with red cover and letters in gold: Conference de la Paix, La Haye 1899. Wilhelmina, queen of host country The Netherlands, received a more luxurious version of the album with her portrait displayed at the front cover.
The high-quality photographs shown in the albums were taken by a Polish photographer Bolesław Matuszewski (1856-1943). Matuszewski was a photographer at the Imperial Court of Tsar Nicholas II from 1897 onwards. The assignment given to him must have been quite extensive as besides the many photos he took at the Conference he also portrayed most of the heads of states of the Nations represented at the Conference.
