The papers of Herman Bavinck (1854-1921) were bequeathed to the Vrije Universiteit in the 1950s. In 1984 the papers were transferred to the Historical Documentation Center for Dutch Protestantism (1800-present day) at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and kept as coll. nr. 346. Over the years several inventories have been composed. The present organization of the documents is based on the most recent inventory, finished in 2013.

The papers have been digitized in a cooperative enterprise of the Historical Documentation Center and The Neo-Calvinism Research Institute (NRI) at Theological University Kampen, and made available to the general public by the NRI in 2021.

The archive holds more than 900 letters to and from Herman Bavinck, documents regarding his personal life and his family, like diaries, and documents related to Bavinck’s public role as pastor, journalist, politician, professor, church leader, and author: manuscripts, note books, lectures, class notes. Quite a few documents have no date or title, and are identified by the first words of the text. Notes and newspaper clippings are often inserted in documents.