art detective arthur brand netherlands national archives 1234747215

Arthur Brand, a self-proclaimed art detective, recovered 25 documents stolen from the Netherlands National Archives in 2015. The trove includes items on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, such as a 1602 report of the Dutch East India Company’s first meeting, a 1700 report of a visit to Mughal India’s Emperor Aurangzeb, and a ship’s log by 17th-century admiral Michiel de Ruyter. Brand was contacted after a person clearing an attic found the box and showed it to a former history professor. Brand took possession on condition of returning the documents to the National Archives, which had been unaware the items were stolen.