The ‘East Indies Conan Doyle’: censored passages from Ucee’s Indo-detective resurface

Between 1924 and 1931, a certain Ucee published a five-part ‘Indo-detective’ series, following the Eurasian sleuth Leo Brandhorst. A newly donated ultra-rare first edition reveals censored passages cut from later reprints, exposing social tensions and everyday racism in the former Dutch East Indies.

Guest author • March 04, 2026

‘I was born into Cantonese’ – In kind memory of Liang Xiaoman

Issue 10 of Wings provides a comprehensive insight into the world of contemporary, unofficial Chinese women's poetry. It also serves as an important and rare printed record of the late Liang Xiaoman’s artistic legacy, capturing her intellectual reflections on humanity during times of global crisis.

Guest author • February 04, 2026

Leiden University Libraries acquires oldest known map of Deshima

Looking for the earliest map of Deshima, the Dutch VOC trading post in Japan? Save yourself a long journey: from now on it can be found in Leiden University Library.

Guest author • January 20, 2026

A Collection of Almanac Prints: In Conversation with the Collector

Last year, Leiden University Libraries acquired the collection of Bart Fontein, consisting of some two hundred student almanacs (1815-2015) and associated almanac prints. Curator Mart van Duijn spoke with Fontein about the hunt for missing copies and the transfer of his collection to the UBL.

Mart van Duijn • December 18, 2025

Willem Einthoven's “thump-free hall”

Dirk van Delft discovers in Leiden’s curator archive where exactly Willem van Einthoven built his ‘thump-free’ hall: the room that allowed him to register the electrocardiograms that would earn him a Nobel prize.

Guest author • December 10, 2025

Blame it on the mailman: Nietzsche and the Vossianus Graecus 18 

Did you know Friedrich Nietzsche is among the past users of Leiden University Library? Two letters from the famous philosopher give a fascinating glimpse of his early activities as a budding philologist. They also tell us a surprising story of ‘interlibrary loan’ in the nineteenth century. 

Marjolein van Zuylen • November 18, 2025

Hidden Messages in a Painting of Prince Diponegoro

The bicentennial of the beginning of the Java War (1825-30) has once again placed Indonesia’s national hero Diponegoro (1785-1855) in the spotlight. A recent translation of his memoirs features a painting from Leiden University Library on its cover. This blogpost unravels its symbolic meaning.

Guest author • November 17, 2025

Judging a book by its cover?

The collection of the Academisch Historisch Museum contains four dissertations that appear to be identical. However, there is more to them than meets the eye.

Erik-Jan Dros • November 13, 2025

The Augustan rector

There must have been some chuckling when guests at the rector's dinner on the 8th of February 1940 opened their menus. On the inside the rector magnificus was depicted as a small putto next to Augustus of Prima Porta. Was it meant as a witty conversation starter, or was there a deeper meaning?

Erik-Jan Dros • September 17, 2025

leidenspecialcollectionsblog

The murder of Floris V sung: the donation of a 16th-century song sheet