How many states does this plate have, and why do major print rooms cite different counts?

Every state determination for this plate — including the one on this sheet — is written as a fraction. "State III of IV" means nothing unless the denominator is agreed, and it is not. Four major print rooms, all citing the same catalogue, give four different accounts. Anyone comparing impressions across collections is silently comparing different numbering systems.

Read directly from the four institutions' own published records on 12 August 2026. The British Museum cites "New Hollstein ... (170.IV)" for its Recueil Basan impression, which requires at least four states. The National Gallery of Art cites "no. 170, state ii/iii" — a three-state count. The Morgan Library gives "NHD 170, II" in its NHD field and "Only one state." in its Notes. RISD gives "STATE: iii/iv" and "New Hollstein no. 170.iii". The printed New Hollstein entry held by this project describes four states. No attempt has been made here to reconcile these; each is recorded verbatim in the census row it came from.

• 3Institutional recordNew Hollstein Dutch & Flemish, Rembrandt, no. 170, pp. 31–32 and plates 84–87 · Erik Hinterding and Jaco Rutgers · 2013on request

• The divergent counts are cataloguing lag — records written against Bartsch, Hind or White & Boon and never renumbered when New Hollstein superseded them.

  Possible

  White & Boon recognised only one state, which would explain the Morgan's 'Only one state.' sitting beside a New Hollstein reference. It does not explain the NGA's 'ii/iii'.

• The counts differ because the New Hollstein entry itself was revised between printings or between the print and online editions.

  Possible

  Checkable by anyone with access to two editions. This project holds one printing only and cannot compare.

1. 01Record each institution's catalogue citation verbatim in the census rather than normalising it to a house standard.
2. 02Compare the New Hollstein entry for no. 170 across the print edition and the online edition, and across printings if they differ.
3. 03Ask each print room which edition its citation was written against.

A statement from the New Hollstein editors, or a comparison of editions showing the entry was revised. Either would tell every holder of an impression of this plate which denominator they are using.

• State atlas — the four states as this project holds them
• Impression census, with each institution's citation verbatim

• RQ-02Is this impression New Hollstein 170, state III?
• RQ-06Was this impression printed during Rembrandt's lifetime, or later?