Leiden dissertation 1742: “slavery not against the Bible”

The story of Jacobus Capitein, a former slave advocating slavery.

Guest author • March 17, 2020

Toleration in the Dutch Republic? Johannes Wtenbogaert and the Remonstrant minority

Johannes Wtenbogaert wrote several letters to his confidant Hugo de Groot about his difficulties as the informal leader of the Remonstrant congregation in the Netherlands in the 1620s and 30s. The letters offer a different perspective on toleration in the Dutch Republic.

Guest author • February 18, 2020

A busy route: a story of airmail between the Dutch East Indies and the Netherlands.

The Hoekstra-collection contains more than 900 items of ephemera and memorabilia, but among the most striking items is a set of mysteriously empty envelopes.

Guest author • February 06, 2020

Cubicula locanda

The signs to rent a room have disappeared from the Leiden streets a few decades ago, but plenty of traces can still be found throughout the Academic Historical Museum: Cubicula locanda!

Guest author • December 11, 2019

South Indian Treasures Discovered at Leiden University Libraries

Four of the oldest dated manuscripts from South India have been discovered at Leiden University Libraries.

Guest author • November 19, 2019

Tsar and Khan in black and white: Treaties between Russia and China (1689-1881)

Sitting on the shelves of the Special Collections at Leiden University is a bundle of rare reprints of treaties between Russia and China. Important, because copies of original treaties are not something that we, ordinary mortals, may consult.

Guest author • October 30, 2019

The price of a mounted photograph by Woodbury & Page

New information about pricing of tourist photographs uncovered in conservation effort.

Guest author and Karin Scheper • September 02, 2019

The Syair Tabut, an overlooked scroll

This long overlooked scroll, the Malay language Syair Tabut, is the only eyewitness account of the last Muharram commemorations in Singapore in 1864, a practice still banned to this day.

Guest author • August 07, 2019

The cartography of Captain James Cook

It must have been quite the sight. On the 3rd of June 1769 – now 250 years ago – Englishmen were on the island of Tahiti looking through high-quality telescopes to watch a rare natural phenomenon: the transit of Venus across the face of the Sun.

Guest author • June 02, 2019

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