Deposit of high-profile Leiden books to Lakenhal

Leiden University Library loans a number of its most special documents to the Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal.

12 February 2008
Leiden University Library loans a number of its most extraordinary documents to Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal for the exhibition Stad van Boeken. Zeven eeuwen lezen in Leiden ('City of Books. Seven centuries of reading in Leiden') from 22 February until 1 June 2008.
Leiden has an exceptionally rich literary history including works which have been of great influence on world views. Many of these - in Leiden manufactured - documents, are now located at Leiden University Library, where they are available for research and education.
High-profile books
The exhibition Stad van boeken ('City of books') displays the development of the manufacturing, trading and reading of texts from the Middle Ages until the present day by means of more than 200 exceptional, high-profile or distinctive books. A random pick of the books that will be on display during the exhibition includes:
  • the impressive Statenbijbel (Authorised Version) (1637): this first official translation of the Bible directly to Dutch is part of the current canon of the Netherlands (available in Dutch).
  • Discours de la methode by Descartes (1637): this philosophical WORK is at the basis of modern scientific research.
  • De brave Hendrik by Anslijn (1809): this school book became so well-known that it gave rise to the expression 'een brave hendrik' ('a paragon of virtue').
Book about Stad van Boeken
A book of the same name will accompany the exhibition and will be published by Primavera Pers and Uitgeverij Gingko in Leiden. It will deal with the most important developments in the field of Leiden books. This is the first publication to appear about the development of the book in a Dutch city covering seven centuries. No less than three out of the five authors are connected to Leiden University:
  • Dr A. Th. Bouwman, curator of Western manuscripts of Leiden University Library.
  • Dr B.P.M. Dongelmans, lecturer literary history at the department of Dutch Language and Literature, and also at the department of Book and Digital Media Studies of Leiden University.
  • Prof. Dr P.G. Hoftijzer, Professor of Literary History at the department of Book and Digital Media Studies of Leiden University.
Free lectures
During the exhibition Stad van Boeken ('City of Books') a series of free lectures (available in Dutch) will be organised about Leiden's literary history. These lectures are a result of the cooperation between the University Library, the Scaliger Institute, the Studium Generale and Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal.
Exhibition Bodel Nijenhuis in the University Library
Largely simultaneously with the Lakenhal exhibition, Leiden University Library is organising an exhibition about the collection of Johannes Tiberius Bodel Nijenhuis: ('The collection of Bodel Nijenhuis'). This is an integral part of the Stad van Boeken ('City of books') exhibition, because this pioneer in historical cartography lived in Leiden for the better part of his life, and his collection of maps, atlases, books and portraits still attract a great deal of attention world-wide.